No longer was Fang Xing a poor man newly returned from adventuring the outside world—he had plenty of money. Even if one were to disregard the valuables he’d stolen while inside the sect, just the items he had obtained after entering Mount Desolation were enough to make him a small-time millionaire. The beast core from the fire-element Fiery-Scaled Serpent was worth close to ten thousand Spirit Stones, and the supreme-grade Spirit Stone he had scammed from Xiao Jianming was also worth close to ten thousand low-grade Spirit Stones. However, both paled in comparison to the Illusory Soulgra.s.s.

The Illusory Soulgra.s.s was worth three mid-grade—or three hundred low-grade—Spirit Stones per plant, and there was at least a thousand of these plants. Together, the soulgra.s.s was worth three hundred thousand low-grade Spirit Stones, more money than one could earn even from that ninth-tier beast core.

Money like this was enough for ten people to break through into the seventh tier, yet all of this was in Fang Xing’s hands—he was nouveau riche! It was also because of this that he was generous to the extremes and had offered thirty thousand Stones as a reward just for the sake of information. It would be hard to convince him that n.o.body would be moved by thirty thousand Stones, too, since such an amount was enough to buy the Poji Pellet needed to break through from the sixth tier into the seventh. It was likely that at least a good dozen of the present Qing-Yun disciples were stuck at the peak of sixth tier due to lacking this kind of money.

Xiao Jianming clearly knew this as well and was already seething with anger, but he couldn’t do anything since he wouldn’t offer the same amount to whoever pa.s.sed him the information instead. Something like that was unfit for someone of his status, and even though he did have that much, he wasn’t going to throw it away for the h.e.l.l of it. On the path of cultivation, the higher one’s cultivation level, the harder it would be to obtain these resources; every single Stone had to be squeezed for all it was worth.

For now, Xiao Jianming was just annoyed at Shen Lo and Feng Qingwei’s stupidity. The two of them had believed that suppressing Duanzhen Valley would make him happy, but—in reality—he hated this most of all since the only thing it was doing was bringing him trouble. Xiao Jianming would have been happier than anyone if the two had been able to suppress Duanzhen Valley without problems, but this unnecessary suppression had instead caused the Duanzhen disciples to no longer obey his orders and had given Fang Xing cause against him. This had not been worth it.

"The beast core belongs to whoever deals the final strike" had come about two days ago when the Duanzhen disciples and Shanhe disciples were trying to ambush a beast. Feng Qingwei had begged Xiao Jianming to keep the beast cores to herself, and so when the Duanzhen disciples started to question it, he had casually said that since the beasts had been killed by the Shanhe disciples, the beast cores should also belong to them.

Xiao Jianming had spoken this sentence so casually, yet it had become a tool for Shen Lo to bully and suppress the Duanzhen disciples and had been the basis behind Feng Qingwei’s unfair judgment. Because of this, this "rule" was now being used to bind him as well.

Ultimately, however, he had no choice. If he denied it, he would be pus.h.i.+ng all of the responsibility onto Feng Qingwei, and it was then possible that even the Shanhe disciples would start to reconsider following his orders.

Xiao Jianming hadn’t really taken this "rule" to heart in the first place. It was just some words he had spoken without really thinking about it, after all, and who would dare to question it anyway? Aside from Xu Linyun, no one would even be qualified.

But Fang Xing had been an exception. This boy was clearly in the middle tiers of Spirit Stage, yet he was not afraid of him at all. Although Xiao Jianming had given up on the Purple Mist Orchid, not only did Fang Xing not roll aside like a good boy and pray thanks for living, but he’d actually dared to turn Xiao Jianming’s words against him while coveting the blue centipede Xiao Jianming had wounded. This had been beyond expectations.

Now Xiao Jianming could only circle from the sky while being annoyed, hoping to be the first to find a trace of the blue centipede so he could be the first to kill it. At the same time, he had decided that since the boy was so rich and wanted to always be contrary to him, it would not be a bad idea to get rid of him when given the chance as long as he was cautious enough to avoid leaving evidence behind.

Fang Xing had been circling from the sky as well, but there was no way to find any traces since tall trees covered the forest and prevented anything on the ground from being seen. Without any choice, he had the golden crow land before discussing the matter with the Duanzhen disciples. He’d been quite heavily involved with various beasts in the past three years and had acc.u.mulated quite a large amount of experience in tracking that he wanted to share with them.

"Little s.h.i.+xiong Fang, are we really going to take s.h.i.+xiong Xiao Jianming’s prey?" When they considered the fact they would be opposing Xiao Jianming, the Duanzhen disciples all began to feel concerned, yet there was also a sense of strange excitement. It had to be said that the more they interacted with Fang Xing, the more they seemed to take after his boldness.

Fang Xing replied, "Only an idiot wouldn’t try to take it. When they took your beast, why didn’t they look worried? Besides, this single ninth-tier beast core is enough to allow seven of you to break through into tier seven. Are you all not moved?"

These words caused the Duanzhen disciples’ pulse to quicken. Enough resources to allow seven people to break through into tier seven…. Just as Fang Xing said, only idiots would not be moved by this, and they were so excited that they began to grow restless. "Yes, let’s do it. We must try even if it means risking our lives for it!"

Someone came up with an idea. "s.h.i.+xiong Xiao Jianming is the most powerful of all Qing-Yun disciples. His battle prowess is too much, so even if we do find that blue centipede, it’s highly likely we still won’t stand a chance. Even if the centipede has been beaten half to death, with a single one of his strikes, the blue centipede would still go to him. Therefore, we must carefully plan this. We’re not trying to see who finds it first, but who actually kills it…."

Not even Fang Xing could help but to praise this disciple, and he tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Very nice, young one!" All of the Duanzhen disciples laughed at this. This was something that was directly related to their own benefits, and no one was truly iron-headed in such moments.

After moments of hesitation, another disciple suddenly spoke, "Dammit, I’m gonna go all in, too. Little s.h.i.+xiong Fang, I have something for you. This Bow of Startled Dragon was purchased with my ten years of savings and isn’t normally shown in public. No matter what, I will be lending it to you today. If Little s.h.i.+xiong Fang is able to use this bow to kill that blue centipede, I—your s.h.i.+di—would only wish to have a single Poji Pellet…." As he spoke, he carefully took out a bow from his storage sack, attracting the attention of all the other Duanzhen disciples.

The disciple was named Cui, with the full name of Cui Baiwan. One of the goals of a Duanzhen disciple was to one day own a high-quality spirit weapon, and as an older disciple of the valley, he was no different. He had saved for ten years to purchase this high-quality spirit bow, yet his cultivation level was not high enough to activate it to its maximum potential, so he had been using his Flying Sword during all of the previous battles.

Whether through open fights or covert ploys, the most common thing within any sect was for the strong to prey upon the weak. He might have this bow, but since his own abilities were not up to par, he was actually afraid of it being swiped from him by someone stronger and so had not showed it to anyone until now. He’d been so moved and excited by Fang Xing that he had gotten the idea to lend the bow to Fang Xing to help kill the blue centipede and gamble on a chance at a free Poji Pellet.

Of course, the greatest concern he had was that someone might want to rob him of his bow, but he had taken his bow out regardless because of an abnormal trust he felt towards Fang Xing.

When Fang Xing saw the bow, his eyes suddenly lit up. The bow’s body was ten feet long, the bow’s arch was made from Fine Black Iron, the string was a tendon from a Jiaolong dragon, and spells that were both detailed and complex were etched all across its body. The full set contained three arrows made from beast bones, and when Cui Baiwan handed it all over, Fang Xing gave the bowstring a light pluck that released a sound akin to a low howl from a dragon.

"Very nice…" Fang Xing praised as he plucked the string a few more times. Then, he suddenly turned towards Cui Baiwan and said, "Gift it to me?"

Cui Baiwan was instantly shocked, his expression seeming close to tears. "Are you joking, Little s.h.i.+xiong Fang?"

"Of course that was a joke!" Fang Xing laughed, but in his heart he was thinking, ‘Should I come up with a way to swindle him and keep this bow?’

With this [Bow of Startled Dragon], Fang Xing’s odds had increased even further. He quickly flew up into the air with the golden crow and—just like Xiao Jianming—he began to circle close to the ground. He wanted to find the blue centipede and kill it with a single arrow; Xiao Jianming wouldn’t go back on his word in front of so many Qing-Yun disciples if Fang Xing were to deliver the final blow.

Elsewhere, twenty or so Qing-Yun disciples had already left for the forest. Using various methods, all of them began to search carefully for any signs of that blue centipede.

After two laps in the air, Fang Xing quietly discussed with the golden crow, "Good ol’ Goldy, make sure you do your best when we find a trace of that beast. Rush to it straight away!"

Since they were airborne, the golden crow wasn’t afraid of being heard by anyone else and rolled his eyes. "Do I have a share once you get the beast core?"

Fang Xing gave it some thought and—seeing as this was no time to be stingy—he agreed at once, "You’ll take forty!"

The golden crow snickered. "Now, if you agree to give me sixty, I’ll help you locate it immediately…."

Fang Xing was stupefied. "You can locate it?"

The golden crow replied with a mysterious smile, "Don’t underestimate the methods of your Uncle Gold. I can control all beasts under tier eight within all of Mount Desolation. Although I may not be able to control those above tier eight, finding them isn’t a problem for me…."

Fang Xing finally remembered that when the disciples had first entered the forest, the "something" behind the beast waves that had attacked them had been none other than this bird. In addition, the crow had also controlled a group of beasts to attack Fang Xing within the valley with the Illusory Soulgra.s.s. From this, it did indeed seem that the bird had some method to control beasts. "If you find it and I manage to get the beast core, we’ll go fifty-fifty!"

After a quick evaluation, the golden crow agreed, "Deal!" Then, making a quick U-turn, he flew towards a nearby mountain peak. Once they’d arrived, he gave a furtive look around before opening his beak and spitting out a worn-out item like a bronze container.

It was a little bronze cauldron with three feet on its bottom, with four sides and two handles on two of the sides. It stood at three feet tall, three feet wide, three feet long, and it had been rotating nonstop the moment it was released. It was simple, yet it had a strange scent to it.

Once the golden crow had spat out the little bronze cauldron, he looked askance towards Fang Xing to see if the boy would be tempted by it.

Fang Xing’s eyes did indeed light up as he excitedly asked, "What is this?"

The golden crow waved his wing. "Just a broken cauldron I borrowed from someone. It’s nothing, really."

Fang Xing laughed. "It looks pretty good, though! Hurry and go find it, don’t let anyone else see it!"

Seeing that Fang Xing had no intention of trying to take the cauldron for himself, the crow let out a sigh of relief before smirking. "It’ll be ready real soon!"