Destroying the Corpse and Erasing the Traces

"I didn't expect this guy to even bring Corpse Dissolving Water. He probably wanted to kill me and then destroy the evidence so the Enforcement Hall wouldn't find anything, right? How vicious!"

Fang Chen stared at Zhang Qining's corpse and sneered, "Since you brought the Corpse Dissolving Water, I'll use it on you then!"

He stood up, kicked Zhang Qining's head over, and then poured the Corpse Dissolving Water onto it.

"Sizzle..."

A large amount of white smoke immediately billowed out. After a while, Zhang Qining's body and clothes completely disappeared, leaving a pool of thick liquid on the ground.

"Rumble!"

Suddenly, dark clouds gathered in the sky, accompanied by thunder and lightning, and then a heavy rain began to fall.

"Swoosh..."

The heavy rain fell on the ground, washing away all the bloodstains and pus.

"It seems even the heavens want to help me!"

Fang Chen thought to himself, then picked up Zhang Qining's identity token, flying sword, and long sword.

Both the flying sword and the long sword were Spirit Treasures. Although they could be sold for money, their identifying features were too obvious. Selling them would be extremely risky and might lead to exposure, making it not worth the trouble.

Although Fang Chen was greedy, he valued his life more.

He also had to get rid of Zhang Qining's identity token.

He recalled the map of Spirit Flame Valley, specifically the forbidden zones marked with stars. The more stars a forbidden zone had, the more dangerous it was.

About three miles away from his current location, there was a four-star forbidden zone called Heavenly Thunder Cave. Any Cultivator below the Foundation Establishment realm who entered would surely die.

He picked up Zhang Qining's flying sword, long sword, and identity token, and braved the heavy rain as he walked towards the Heavenly Thunder Cave forbidden zone.

After the time it takes for one incense stick to burn, Fang Chen arrived at the Heavenly Thunder Cave forbidden zone.

Standing at the edge of the Heavenly Thunder Cave forbidden zone, Fang Chen looked up. The area ahead was covered in mist. He picked up a stone and threw it towards the mist.

As the stone approached the edge of the forbidden zone, a bolt of lightning appeared and instantly struck the stone.

"Crack!"

The stone was shattered into dust by the lightning.

Fang Chen's eyes narrowed slightly, and then he forcefully threw Zhang Qining's identity token into the forbidden zone.

"Whoosh!"

As Zhang Qining's identity token neared the forbidden zone, an even more powerful bolt of lightning appeared and instantly struck the identity token, causing a shower of sparks. The identity token then exploded and fell into the forbidden zone.

"What a terrifying forbidden zone, truly worthy of being a four-star forbidden zone. If that lightning struck me, I would surely die!"

Seeing the lightning erupt within the forbidden zone, Fang Chen was inwardly shocked. Heavenly Thunder Cave was only a four-star forbidden zone. How terrifying would five-star or even six-star forbidden zones be?

Spirit Flame Valley had twelve four-star forbidden zones like Heavenly Thunder Cave, three five-star forbidden zones, and one six-star forbidden zone.

The five-star and six-star forbidden zones were located deeper within Spirit Flame Valley.

Next, Fang Chen threw Zhang Qining's flying sword and long sword into the forbidden zone. As these items approached the forbidden zone, they were struck by lightning and shattered, falling into the forbidden zone.

"Now, even the people from the Enforcement Hall shouldn't be able to find anything, right?"

Fang Chen slowly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. However, he didn't dare to let his guard down. After all, he knew that Cultivators possessed vast powers and might have some formidable means to investigate the matter.

At this point, he could only be as careful as possible. Whether the Enforcement Hall could find out in the end would be left to fate.

Fang Chen returned to his original spot and continued chopping bamboo.

He did as before, swinging the Floating Immortal Sword towards the Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo in front of him.

"Clang!"

The Floating Immortal Sword struck the Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo, leaving a clear sword mark. Red sap immediately seeped out from the wound.

"Swoosh!"

The Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo vibrated again, its leaves instantly falling and shooting towards Fang Chen like cold light.

With his previous experience, Fang Chen's lips curved slightly. He swung the Floating Immortal Sword, deflecting all the incoming bamboo leaves, and then continued chopping.

This time, Fang Chen cut down a Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo in less than half the time it takes for one incense stick to burn, doubling his previous speed.

Fang Chen hadn't expected his strength to increase so much after killing Zhang Tielin's lackey.

"If I killed ten more, or even a hundred more, how strong would I become?"

Fang Chen's blood began to boil, and he wished he could go out and kill immediately.

However, he quickly calmed down. He knew that his idea was unrealistic. In the Glazed Sword Sect, killing people would result in punishment, and in severe cases, it would cost one's life.

Although Fang Chen had tasted the sweetness of killing, he still held back.

"I'll chop bamboo for now. When the opportunity arises, it won't be too late to go on a killing spree!"

Fang Chen thought to himself and continued to chop the Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo.

At his current speed, he could chop two stalks per incense stick. With four incense sticks in an hour, he could chop eight Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo stalks. If he worked for six hours a day, he could chop at least forty-eight stalks. To complete the task of a thousand Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo stalks, it would take at least twenty days.

Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo was a higher-grade material than Exquisite Bamboo. The energy Fang Chen absorbed from the Floating Immortal Sword by cutting down one stalk was at least ten times more than when he cut down Exquisite Bamboo.

During this process, Fang Chen's strength would also continuously improve. As his strength increased, his speed in chopping bamboo would also quicken. If nothing unexpected happened, he would definitely be able to finish chopping a thousand stalks of Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo in less than twenty days.

The rain kept falling, and it grew heavier.

Three hours later, the rain stopped, and the sky darkened. The spiritual energy flowing from the Floating Immortal Sword into Fang Chen's body also diminished.

Fang Chen had chopped a total of twenty-six stalks of Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo, which was a bit faster than he had anticipated.

"It's getting dark. Time to head back!"

Fang Chen chopped a slightly younger stalk of Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo, split it into strips, and bundled the twenty-six stalks together. Then, he took out a small paper crane from his bosom.

This small paper crane was used to summon a Wind-Riding Crane. He was now nearly a hundred miles away from the entrance of Spirit Flame Valley. If he had to transport all these Fire Spirit Sword Bamboos himself, it would surely exhaust him to death.

The task he received was only to chop the Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo; he didn't need to worry about the transportation work at all.

He immediately channeled a wisp of True Qi into the small paper crane.

"Buzz buzz buzz..."

The formation patterns on the small paper crane immediately emitted a faint white light, flickering on and off, releasing a special kind of fluctuation. Then, it gently flapped its wings and flew up from Fang Chen's palm. After circling him twice, it shot straight into the sky and flew towards the valley entrance.

A short while later, a giant Wind-Riding Crane arrived above his location, emitting a buzzing sound.

Two enormous ropes descended from the Wind-Riding Crane. Fang Chen tied the ropes to his bamboo and then sat on them himself.

"Buzz buzz buzz..."

The Wind-Riding Crane flapped its wings desperately, lifting the Fire Spirit Sword Bamboo and Fang Chen slowly into the air before flying towards the entrance of Spirit Flame Valley.