When Chen Xuanhua saw that Fang Xing’s words lacked any sincerity, he could only give a helpless sigh, uncertain as to whether gambling on the boy was right or wrong. After some hesitation, he sighed again and said, "Hopefully, you’ll be able to pass through this misfortune and will remember my words from today. That is all I can say now. Aiii, I’m old, this world is complicated and I always feel helpless. Your shifu already intends to retire, and so do I; we’re not like you, who can always go so boldly forward…." With another sigh, he waved his sleeve and turned, as though preparing to leave.
Fang Xing was startled and quickly asked, "You still haven’t told me how to resolve this demon spirit problem?"
Chen Xuanhua lowered his head and thought on it for a few minutes. "This demon shares the same essence as you, so it will be extremely difficult to solve. Even if you find someone from the Golden Core Stage, it’s still not guaranteed they’ll be able to refine it for you without damaging your own Spirit Sense…. Although, there might be one person who is able to help you resolve this: the grand-elder of the Ice Melodic Palace, Hu Qin. Except… aiii, it’s all up to your luck!"
"Elder Hu Qin?" Fang Xing muttered to himself, committing the name to memory.
Just as Chen Xuanhua was about to leave, he suddenly remembered a question and curiously began, "I would like to ask you something…."
Fang Xing grinned. "No need to be so polite, Sect Master; ask away!"
Chen Xuanhua hesitated before whispering, "Did Shishu Bai really pass on his heritage to you?"
Fang Xing laughed. "He didn’t pass on his heritage, but he did teach me other things. These other things he taught me aren’t what people imagine them to be, though, it’s more like a seed that is useful only to me. It couldn’t be taken away by others, not even if they killed me!" Although his eyes were clear and his expression was relaxed as he spoke, his tone was dead serious, leaving no doubt that what he said was the truth.
Chen Xuanhua was a little taken aback and released a helpless sigh. "Well, I know Shishu Bai well; if he doesn’t want us to touch something, he has his reasons. I am not a greedy person, and you don’t have to worry; I have no intention of coveting after your secrets. It’s just that after it caused so much chaos, I was really curious!"
Fang Xing laughed. "There are still some things I can teach you, though. Do you want to learn an Ancient battle technique from a beast tribe?"
Chen Xuanhua smiled with indifference. "Not unless it’s something that would help me form the Golden Core. Any other skills and techniques are pretty much useless to me right now!" As he spoke, a cloud began to form beneath his feet and slowly brought him into the air. With another long sigh, he started flying off towards the distant sky.
Fang Xing suddenly remembered something and yelled from below, "Can you pass on a message for me? Although I can’t give that Foundation Pellet to Shijie Linyun myself right now, please assure her not to worry, and that I’ll bring a few for her one day…. By the way, if I don’t want it and Xiao Jianming is dead, the next person in line to receive it is Shijie Linyun, right? Why don’t you give her that one? But don’t forget to tell her it’s from me…."
Chen Xuanhua above was left speechless at these words, but was also rather amused. He increased his speed and flew away.
One hour later atop a peak close to the Qing-Yun Sect, Chen Xuanhua bumped into a worried-looking Tie Rukuang and nodded his head. "I have helped that boy suppress the demon, and he will be safe for the next half year. I also told him the person who might be able to help him resolve this. It’s just that whether or not he can actually get it resolved is dependent on his fate; neither of us can be of any help anymore!"
Tie Rukuang let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "As long as he doesn’t die right now, I’m fully con
fident in him. After Xiao Shanhe and Qin’nyao received the Ancient techniques for the Golden Core, both of them became so arrogant and overbearing, but I feel they’ve already made a huge mistake…."
Chen Xuanhua was surprised by this and hesitantly smiled. "You have so much confidence in this boy?"
Tie Rukuang laughed. "I have confidence in Shishu Bai!"
Chen Xuanhua nodded, approving of Tie Rukuang’s words. The reason he was willing to help Fang Xing this time was because Tie Rukuang had sought him out for help, and two sentences in particular had moved him: "Five years ago, he was even less than a beggar who couldn’t even enter the Qing-Yun Sect," and "The fact he stood against the Fuyao Palace for Shishu Bai’s sake, he’s someone who doesn’t forget those who have been kind to him."
Chen Xuanhua sighed and opened his mouth as though to say something, but closed it and simply shook his head instead with the trace of a smile on his lips. Tie Rukuang laughed at this and asked, "What does the sect master want to say?"
"When I was helping the boy flee, I suddenly felt like letting him leave the Qing-Yun Sect was like releasing a vicious tiger back into the mountains…."
Tie Rukuang spat at that. "Vicious tiger, hah! He’s nothing more than some rat droppings."
Chen Xuanhua showed a faint smile. "Indeed, that is perhaps more accurate. It’s just like throwing rat droppings into a pot of good broth…."
The two considered it in detail and came to the conclusion that even though this little bastard had performed quite well within the Qing-Yun Sect, he was definitely someone with a knack for causing trouble. Everything he did was unexpected, in particular when he killed Xiao Jianming and went so far as to take all of the life savings of Elder Qin’nyao, Xiao Shanhe, and Chen Baoyan. He even blew up the Danxia and Shanhe valleys before he left.
He’d been so reckless and outrageous to commit such atrocities in the small Qing-Yun Sect. Now that someone like him was set loose into the vast ocean-like world of cultivation, what sort of other crazy things would he do?
Chen Xuanhua and Tie Rukuang both shuddered at the thought….
In the meantime, the "rat droppings" Chen Xuanhua and Tie Rukuang spoke of was currently squatting on the ground and splitting his loot with the golden crow. One boy, one bird, both of them looked seriously at each other with gleaming eyes from opposite sides.
"One at a time!"
"Fifty-fifty!"
"Gotta follow the rules!"
"No snatching away!"
"It all depends on your eye for value!"
"You gamble, you accept the results!"
Once these two rat droppings agreed on the rules, the golden crow suddenly extended his claw as fast as lightning and grabbed a bottle of excellent spirit pellets. Fang Xing was immediately furious and pulled away a dull-looking jade talisman.
Once the two began, the boy and bird both focused on what was in front of them with reddened eyes while trying to pick out only the good stuff. The golden crow had wandered the cultivation realm for many years and was quite knowledgeable on what was good and what was not; when he picked out his items, his speed was extremely quick and he needed very little time to decide which items were worth more. He hastily threw everything he picked out into his storage sack, yet Fang Xing was unexpectedly even faster and his hands shot out as fast as lightning to grab all the good stuff without stopping.
The golden crow looked down on Fang Xing’s actions, believing the boy was merely trying to win out with quantity. As someone who valued quality more than sheer numbers, the golden crow felt only disdain towards such behavior. What the crow didn’t know was Fang Xing was also looking down on this simple bird—to compete with him in item appraisal was just asking to be whipped….
After some time of chaotic snatching and grabbing, the giant pile turned into two small hills, and in the middle remained one last cauldron of great quality. The boy stopped at this, both of them glaring seriously at each other, as if trying to determine who this final item would go to using sheer willpower alone.
"This should be mine! I was the one who actually stole it!" the golden crow spoke with a serious tone.
Fang Xing seemed to be even more serious than the crow. "Bullsh*t, without me grabbing everyone’s attention, how would you have succeeded?"
"This should still be mine since I grabbed fewer things than you…."
"Bullsh*t, you’re just too slow; that has nothing to do with me, your grandpa…."
The boy and the bird began to argue, with neither willing to concede.
After arguing for a while, the golden crow suddenly remembered something. "Do you know any alchemy?"
Fang Xing was stunned. "I don’t. Do you?"
"I don’t, either!"
"Then what the f*ck are we arguing for?"
"Yes, yes, no need to argue. Let’s just destroy it and use it to make some noise…."
Dong dong dong, the sound of a blade and stone striking against bronze rang out, until even this great cauldron had turned into a pile of useless metal. Fang Xing and the golden crow then finally released a sigh of relief and smiled at each other, like two heroes who’d finally met a kindred spirit who knew just how difficult being a hero was.
Of course, Qin’nyao would’ve vomited blood if she knew the cauldron she’d spent so much time and effort to acquire had just been used to "make some noise".
"Haha, now that we’re all relaxed and free, where shall we head to next?" The golden crow stretched as a sly smile appeared on his face, his eyes already glistening with excitement.
Fang Xing snickered and looked towards the south. "To the Bohai Kingdom?"
The golden crow was taken aback at this. "Why there?" He’d finished a big job at the Bohai Kingdom not long ago, after all, and the Myriad Beasts Sect had been searching for him up to now. He naturally didn’t want to go back.
Fang Xing just laughed. "To earn some money, of course! That damn fatty who was so loyal was taken, and it’s not like I can just watch it happen without doing anything about it. Let’s go go go look around the Bohai Kingdom and see if we can rescue him from it. Of course, what’s most important is to make some large profits, and I’ve heard the Bohai Kingdom has plenty of good stuff…."