Gray River Stronghold

At the thought of that black flame brazenly melting his bonded flying sword into molten iron, the one-armed male cultivator found it hard to swallow.

He admitted that snatching military merit had been rather unscrupulous of him, but on the battlefield, fighting and scrambling over spoils was commonplace.

Still, destroying his bonded flying sword had gone a little too far.

Suppressing his displeasure, he cupped his hands toward Xu Chunniang in salute.

"Fairy, I heard Brother Lan He mention earlier that your surname is Xu. May I ask, Fairy Xu, what exactly was that black flame you used just now?"

The one-armed male cultivator's question immediately stirred the curiosity of the others.

They too wanted to know what was so strange about that black flame that it could burn a Void Refining Stage expert alive.

Xu Chunniang smiled faintly and answered with a question instead.

"I sensed that two more black dots on the military order have disappeared. Only the final two remain. Are you sure you still want to keep chatting?"

Lan He gave a dry cough. "I received a message from the group leader earlier. The Beastmen are coming in force, so he told us to retreat for now and return to the stronghold upstream of the Gray River."

Lan He had received that message as early as when the female Beastman fled.

He had merely been interested in the Void Refining Stage Beastman's remains and the black flame Xu Chunniang possessed, which was why he had lingered until now.

They exchanged no words on the way back, and the group of five returned smoothly to the Black Tiger Army stronghold upstream of the Gray River.

"This place is relatively safe, though Beastman raids still occur from time to time. Beastmen killed here can also be exchanged for