When Fang Xing lifted the saber, he found it likely weighed no less than a thousand pounds. It was indeed a good sword!

After three years of tests and trials, Fang Xing"s physique had already been repeatedly refined with Qi that was extremely pure and concentrated, which was why he had such an extraordinary strength at such a young age. Ordinary weapons were unsuitable for him, and all of the Flying Swords he currently had were either "light", "sharp", or both, making them even less suitable for his needs. This [Saber of Azure Dragon], however, was long and heavy, and its power was unmatched; it was as though the weapon had been crafted specially for Fang Xing.

Wooooosh….

Whirling the saber around, Fang Xing quickly performed a common martial art form with the weapon in hand. The presentation gave off an awe-inspiring presence, majestic and domineering beyond comparison.

"You… b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I dare you… to kill me…" Murong Ying hissed. After being humiliated and beaten by Fang Xing in front of so many eyes and now stepped beneath Fang Xing"s foot, he was embarra.s.sed to the core. He had lost all hope and truly wanted to die at this very moment.

"You want to die? Sure!" Fang Xing snorted and waved the saber right towards Murong Ying"s head.

BOOM

The broadsword slicing through the air produced a thunderous sound, as if a lightning bolt had flashed past.

Murong Ying let out a howl of despair, his eyes wide open as he waited for his death to find him. No one present actually thought the boy would have the guts to truly land the sword on Murong Ying"s neck, yet as the event unfolded, Fang Xing did not seem to be fooling around. Everyone was startled, and those who were more timid could even be seen covering their eyes.

"Is he really going to kill him? This is inside Duanzhen Valley…." Such thoughts filled the minds of the onlookers.

"That"s enough! Stop it right there!" an aged voice suddenly rose as a rope of golden straw flew down from the mountain peak north of Duanzhen Valley. The rope was like a snake as it looped itself around both Fang Xing and the saber before pulling them upward into the air. From the peak, an elderly-looking man with black hair could be seen flying towards them, and he s.n.a.t.c.hed Fang Xing by the collar with a quick motion.

It was none other than the chief elder of Duanzhen Valley: Tie Rukuang.

Despite Fang Xing"s extraordinary strength, he could not move even an inch beneath the tightness of the straw rope wrapped around him.

"Dear s.h.i.+fu, it is good to see you…."

"Please accept our respects, Elder Tie…."

In a brief moment, all disciples both inside and outside the valley dropped to their knees, not a single one daring to even lift their heads. All except for Fang Xing, at least, who soon exclaimed, "Let me go! I knew you were there watching all along! I did this purposely to draw you out!"

Tie Rukuang looked at Fang Xing in his grasp with curious interest. "You knew I was watching?"

"We"ve been fighting for quite some time. If you still hadn"t noticed us despite being so powerful, then what are you good for?"

Tie Rukuang was left speechless. He knew that although the words Fang Xing spoke were nothing short of impertinence, it was however the truth. In fact, Tie Rukuang had already noticed everything the moment Fang Xing began his fight with Murong Ying. Since the boy had come to his Duanzhen Valley to chase after some gambling debts, he found it both humiliating and amusing; he had originally intended to stop them earlier, but he quickly found he wanted to allow the two to continue.

Tie Rukuang had thought to use this opportunity to test Fang Xing"s ability through Murong Ying. Although Bai Qianzhang hadn"t pa.s.sed on his knowledge, Tie Rukuang believed it was impossible that Fang Xing hadn"t learned anything at all in the past three years. The result was one that not even he could understand: Fang Xing had won using only his out-of-ordinary raw strength and some clever tactics, without the use of any special skills or techniques. It was possible that this was perhaps due to Bai Qianzhang"s teaching methods and had nothing to do with any mysterious manuals.

"Elder Tie, this little thief robbed us all. Please enact justice…." The inner court disciples that had been outside the valley all rushed in and knelt in front of Tie Rukuang, crying and complaining about what Fang Xing had done to them. Fang Xing had robbed all of them single-handedly, and they had no hope of getting their belongings back using their own power. They had originally hoped Murong Ying would take Fang Xing down, yet their hope had been beaten flat into the ground as well. It was fortunate for them that Tie Rukuang appeared; he was their last hope.

Tie Rukuang was surprised at the sight, unable to accept this was possible. "He robbed all of you? All by himself?" he asked with disbelief.

The disciples replied in unison, "Yes, absolutely. See, he still has all of our storage sacks…."

As soon as Tie Rukuang took another close look, he was again left unsure of how to react. Fang Xing"s chest looked as though it had been packed full with objects, and the corners and edges of numerous storage sacks could even be seen hanging out of his robe and pockets. None of it looked like it actually belonged to Fang Xing.

Fang Xing, on the other hand, became anxious. He had spent so much effort getting all of these storage sacks; why would he so easily give them back? But even though he had enough strength to lift an elephant with a single hand, it was all for naught in front of Tie Rukuang, and he could not free himself. In a moment of desperation, Fang Xing suddenly recalled something and yelled out, "Old man, you still owe me a favor. How can you help them, but not help me?"

"I owe you a favor?" Tie Rukuang paused, also remembering that he did indeed owe Fang Xing a favor. During the game of Weiqi against s.h.i.+shu Bai three years ago, it was because of the boy"s surprising move—devouring a Weiqi stone, literally—that he was able to regain control over a losing game. He remembered that he had even promised to thank Fang Xing for this. What Tie Rukuang hadn"t considered back then was that Fang Xing would now use it to blackmail him, and he began to feel rather awkward.

Fang Xing yelled again, "No wonder your pupil doesn"t own up to his debt! I see he"s learned it all from his dear s.h.i.+fu!"

Tie Rukuang slapped Fang Xing and angrily growled out, "How? What debt did my pupil not own up to?"

"I had a duel with someone else, and he placed a bet on the other person winning, using this saber as the wager. I won, but he slinked back to Duanzhen Valley without paying up, so I had to chase him all the way here to get what is rightfully mine. And all of those people, you shouldn"t believe what they say; they might look pitiful and all, but they all also tried to get out of paying their dues. I didn"t have much of a choice, this isn"t my fault at all…."

Hearing this, Tie Rukuang was left hesitant. He himself was a bit of a gambler, and when he had played Weiqi with Bai Qianzhang, he had used one of his own spirit treasures as a wager. If he were to win, Bai Qianzhang would help him improve his [Blue-Flame Grand Smithing], and if he were to lose, the spirit treasure would then be given to Bai Qianzhang. Since Fang Xing saved him from the loss, his spirit treasure had been saved.

Tie Rukuang always viewed himself as someone who was straightforward and honest, with high pride in his own character—especially when it came to gambling. He grew frustrated upon hearing Fang Xing"s accusations.

"Is what he said true?" Tie Rukuang glanced across all of the kneeling disciples.

The disciples did not dare to admit it and continued to cry out, "This kid is distorting the truth on purpose…."

Tie Rukuang asked once more, this time raising his voice, "I just want to know if you all placed any bets?"

Silence reigned before the disciples quietly replied, "Yes. We did."

With a sharp glare across all of the disciples, Tie Rukuang then turned to Murong Ying, who had slowly managed to pick himself back up. "Did you place a bet as well?"

Before Murong Ying had fully risen, he fell back to his knees once more. "Dear s.h.i.+fu, I know I have wronged!"

Tie Rukuang was unable to say anything else. "You all will wait for me right here!" he ordered. He then pulled Fang Xing onto a cloud with him and headed towards his cave estate atop the peak where he"d come from. Once he arrived at its entrance, he threw Fang Xing inside before withdrawing his [Immortal"s Snare].

When the rope was pulled away, Fang Xing spun about in mid-air before landing steadily on the ground. Both of his arms folded across his chest as he laughed, "See, I didn"t lie to you, did I? I"m just here to collect what is owed!"

Tie Rukuang gave Fang Xing yet another sharp glare. "You are such a large troublemaker. s.h.i.+shu Bai only just now went into seclusion, yet you"ve already made such a big scene. If someone in the sect uses this as an excuse to punish you, what are you going to do about it then?"

"It"s exactly because Uncle s.h.i.+"yi just went into a life-or-death seclusion that I made a big scene like this. His presence is still here to affect the att.i.tude the Qing-Yun Sect has towards me. When Uncle s.h.i.+"yi"s presence begins to go away over time, that is when it"ll really be troublesome…." While Fang Xing was having such thoughts inside, outside he appeared to be completely uncaring. "Who asked them to gamble themselves into debt? "To repay one"s debt is the heaven"s law and earth"s principle. To not repay one"s debt is to be lower than even an animal." Haven"t you heard of this famous saying from the scholars before?"

Tie Rukuang was left speechless. "Bullsh*t! Which scholar said that!" he cursed.

"Confucius!"

Tie Rukuang was so furious that he had the urge to kick such an ignorant and incompetent brat right out of his sight; the world would have probably come to an end if Confucius had truly spoken such words! Yet at this moment, Fang Xing fell straight to his knees and emptied his robe and pockets, scattering all of the storage sacks in front of him. He s.n.a.t.c.hed all of the valuable items inside and placed them into his storage ring, while the remaining items were then thrown back into their original sacks. Three to four sacks had already been searched through and thrown aside within the span of mere seconds.

"What are you doing?" Tie Rukuang asked.

"You"re a chief elder, you know. Since they asked you for your help, I can"t just not give you any face. But I would hate to part with all of it, so let me pick out the good stuff first before I give you back the sacks," Fang Xing replied.

Tie Rukuang had not expected Fang Xing to be so forthright. "You"re not an idiot after all!"

Fang Xing then looked up, his tone serious, "This is a favor I"m doing for you so you can save face. If you count this time and the last, it"ll be two favors you owe me now!"

"Get lost! Do I need you to save my face?" Rolling his eyes and cursing, Tie Rukuang kicked Fang Xing"s rear. "What an idiot you are! See what you"ve just thrown back? It"s the spirit bone of a beast! It may not look very impressive, but it"s one of the most valuable things for a Talisman Cultivator. It"s worth much more than that stupid Flying Sword…."

Dumbstruck, Fang Xing picked that particular storage sack back up, this time activating his [Book of Revelation] and taking a closer look.

It was exactly as Tie Rukuang said, and it was rather quite valuable. Fang Xing had not used the [Book of Revelation] because of his limited time and the vast number of items he needed go through, so he was left to pick out the items using his own naked eye. He had missed out on some of the good stuff as a result, and it was only thanks to Tie Rukuang"s reminder that he didn"t actually lose them.

"Oh. Thanks…."

"You"re welcome. Heh heh, kid, are you interested in joining our Duanzhen Valley?"

"Nope. I don"t want to be a blacksmith. Besides, there"s not even a single female disciple here."

The forced smile on Tie Rukuang"s face disappeared once again. He was a proud chief elder, one of the top people of power within the entire Qing-Yun Sect. It was rare enough that he would personally extend an invitation to a disciple to join his branch; how dare Fang Xing reject him? "You little son of a bi*ch, even if you don"t want to, you have to. Who said you had the option to refuse?"