Dawn.
The resplendent morning light slowly spilled down from the east, as though coating the entire Black Stone City in a layer of gold.
Fang Xi returned to his own residence and changed clothes.
"Lu She was utterly pathetic. But the information he revealed before dying is worth taking seriously..."
Last night, with the aid of talismans, he had wiped out the Red Snake Martial Arts School's upper echelon with astonishing ease, while the disciples on the outskirts remained completely unaware.
He had also used Lu She to complete one of his experiments.
True-force Martial Artists would still suffer greatly against upper- and lower-grade Magic Tools... Their bones were only slightly harder than those of ordinary people, but as long as one avoided the few sturdier bones and focused on vital points, it was easy to defeat the stronger with the weaker!
Whenever Fang Xi thought of Lu She's utterly shocked expression when he had witnessed the flying sword technique last night, he still found it highly amusing.
After breakfast, Fang Xi went to the White Cloud Martial Arts School.
"Junior Brother, you're finally here."
Mu Piaomiao stood at the entrance of the martial arts school. The moment she saw Fang Xi, her eyes lit up, and she grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the inner courtyard.
"Senior Sister, what happened?"
Feeling the astonished gazes of the surrounding disciples, Fang Xi quietly slipped his hand free from Mu Piaomiao's grasp.
"Father's friend has arrived. Uncle Hao is also the master of a martial arts school..."
Mu Piaomiao gave him a brief explanation.
Oh, so Mu Canglong has a guest and wants me to go bolster the occasion?
Fang Xi more or less understood and did not refuse. He followed Mu Piaomiao into the reception hall.
"Hahaha, this must be your niece, right? She's grown even more lovely."
In the main hall, Mu Canglong and a red-faced, burly man were seated as host and guest.
When the red-faced man saw Mu Piaomiao, his eyes immediately lit up. Then he instructed the red-robed young man beside him, "What are you waiting for? Go pay your respects."
"I'm Hao Lan. Greetings, Miss Mu."
The young man was probably the nephew of Martial Hall Master Hao. He stepped forward with a gentle smile.
"My nephew's talent is beyond question. He's only nineteen, yet he has already reached the Three Changes of Qi and Blood..."
Martial Hall Master Hao laughed heartily.
"Hahaha... My worthless daughter didn't break through to the Three Changes of Qi and Blood until she was twenty."
Mu Canglong quietly took a sip of tea, then pointed at Fang Xi. "This disciple of mine is quite good, though. He's seventeen this year and has also reached the Three Changes of Qi and Blood."
"What?"
Hao Lan's expression instantly became colorful, as though someone had hacked him with a blade.
"Hahaha... I still have important matters to discuss with Old Brother Mu..." Martial Hall Master Hao was slightly shocked, but quickly returned to normal.
"Piaomiao, Fang Xi, take Hao Lan out for a stroll. Young people should spend more time getting acquainted."
Mu Canglong's expression also grew solemn.
Fang Xi and Mu Piaomiao each saluted before leaving the reception hall.
Just before stepping outside, Fang Xi's ears twitched. Martial Hall Master Hao's worried voice drifted into his ears. "...Old Brother Mu, I'm afraid there was more to the previous demon-beast roundup than met the eye!"
What exactly went so wrong during the previous demon-beast roundup?
Fang Xi was deep in thought when Hao Lan noticed Mu Piaomiao repeatedly glancing toward her junior brother. A young man's competitive spirit immediately flared up in him. "This junior brother is actually only seventeen and has already broken through to the Three Changes of Qi and Blood. Hao Lan admires you. How about... we have a little contest?"
"Um... there's no need, is there?"
Fang Xi refused.
At his current Martial Hall Master realm, an ordinary Martial Artist at the Three Changes of Qi and Blood was someone he could kick down with one leg.
"What? In front of Miss Mu, could it be that Junior Brother Fang is... afraid of losing?" Hao Lan smiled.
He assumed young men were easily provoked. With this little goading, Fang Xi would surely take the bait.
Unexpectedly, Fang Xi merely rolled his eyes inwardly and could not be bothered to argue with a child. "Fine... then I'll admit defeat. Brother Hao's strength is extraordinary. I'm ashamed to call myself your equal!"
"Hm?"
Hao Lan's eyes widened, as though he were meeting Fang Xi for the first time.
Only after a long while did he manage to say, "I've never seen anyone quite like Brother Fang..."
"Old Brother Mu, please, whatever you do, keep today's matter in mind."
At the main entrance of the White Cloud Martial Arts School, Martial Hall Master Hao bade farewell to Mu Canglong with his nephew in tow.
Mu Piaomiao and Fang Xi stood among the crowd, seeing them off.
"Why did you... admit defeat right away?" Mu Piaomiao moved closer to Fang Xi and asked quietly.
"What's the point of fighting a meaningless battle?" Fang Xi countered, lowering his eyes.
Rather than compete with a child, he would do better to consider the strange atmosphere that had recently settled over Black Stone City.
It seemed that... ever since the last demon hunt, something extraordinary had happened.
Just as his thoughts drifted elsewhere, a sudden cry rang out nearby.
"Murder!!!"
The voice was shrill and high-pitched, almost cleaving the sky in two.
"Hm?"
Fang Xi knitted his brows and followed the martial arts school's people toward the source of the sound.
After turning a street corner, he saw a crowd fleeing in panic, scattering like startled beasts from several... strange people?
"What... what the hell are those things?"
His keen eyesight allowed Fang Xi to see the monsters' true appearances—sunken cheeks, with objects resembling wooden whiskers protruding from their seven orifices.
At that moment, one of the monsters casually seized a passerby beside it. Tendril after tendril burrowed into the man's body.
"Ah!"
The innocent passerby screamed as his body rapidly shrank by a full circle, his eyes gradually losing their light...
It feels... very much like some kind of puppet?
As a cultivator, Fang Xi's knowledge was quite broad.
Seeing this scene, his pupils contracted sharply, and he felt somewhat speechless. I got it wrong... The old me was so foolish and naive. I actually thought this was a low-martial world...
"Save... save me!"
"Waaah... Mother..."
The monsters and the terror seemed contagious, spreading rapidly through the crowd.
A great tide of people fled blindly in every direction. A child fell by the roadside and began to sob.
"Get up."
Hao Lan snatched up the child and hurriedly retreated toward the martial arts school's people.
"Old Brother Mu!" Martial Hall Master Hao roared. His fists smashed toward one of the monsters like rolling boulders.
Pfft!
Wherever his true force passed, the monster's spine snapped, and half its body was torn apart.
"Brother Hao, get out of the way!"
Mu Canglong's eye twitched, and he cried out in alarm.
"Ah!"
Martial Hall Master Hao let out a cry of pain and stared at his palm. Several bloody holes had appeared in it at some point.
"At the very least, it's a great demon. It may even be..." Mu Canglong's expression became incomparably grave. He shouted, "Disciples of the White Cloud Martial Arts School, heed my order! Retreat to the school immediately and defend the walls!"
"Yes, sir!"
Mu Piaomiao glanced at her father and led her junior brother back into the martial arts school.
Fang Xi looked up and saw Mu Canglong fighting a monster with a steel rod in hand.
He gazed at the collapsed stall by the roadside. A rattle drum rolled across the ground several times before finally stopping at his feet.
This seemingly prosperous golden age was like a soap bubble, bursting at the slightest poke...
It had vanished so swiftly that it truly gave one the feeling of an illusionary dream.
"Run!"
Hao Lan did not know why he had felt sorry for the child and rescued him on impulse.
By the time he came to his senses, several monsters had already surrounded him.
These monsters differed from the previous few. No tree-like tendrils protruded from their seven orifices, but strange black markings were branded across their bodies. They writhed like tadpoles, covering most of their cheeks like hideous masks.
"Witness my family's inheritance... Rolling Stone Fist!"
He drew a deep breath. The mighty strength of the Three Changes of Qi and Blood burst forth like raging waves and furious thunder.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Crack!
Hao Lan let out a miserable cry. He could feel the bones in his right hand break.
He watched a patterned monster pounce at him and gave a bitter laugh before closing his eyes.
Boom!
The next moment, a deafening sound rang out.
"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and go!"
Fang Xi kicked one of the monsters away. At some point, a short green sword had appeared in his hand, and he slashed it across another monster flying toward him.
Dark-red blood sprayed through the air, spattering the sword's edge.
I've obtained a little blood. I can take it back for study, or bring it to someone in the Cultivation World for a look...
Fang Xi's main objective in coming out had been to obtain a sample. As for Hao Lan?
He had merely felt a bit of goodwill after seeing Hao Lan rescue the child earlier, so he had saved him on a whim.
As a cultivator, one ought to follow one's heart and do whatever one wished.
"So... so powerful!"
Hao Lan was practically dumbstruck.
As someone who had just fought them, he knew better than anyone how troublesome those monsters were.
His hand had been broken after only a few moves, yet Fang Xi dealt with them as easily as turning over his palm.
Thinking of how Fang Xi had calmly admitted defeat earlier, Hao Lan's cheeks flushed red as a monkey's backside, all from humiliation. "I'm such an idiot. Really..."
A little earlier.
Black Stone City, where the Daliang government offices were located.
The rear courtyard of the Prefectural Yamen.
One demon beast after another emerged. The two-headed Yao Wolf from before, as well as several missing Martial Hall Masters, were all among them.
The ground was covered in blood, and not a single living person remained nearby.
Then the parasitized demon beasts and powerful Martial Artists gathered together. Suddenly, they let out several shrill roars, and their flesh exploded one after another.
Amid the spray of blood, flesh, and bone, vine-like objects emerged and writhed together. They grew long roots that burrowed into the ground.
Before long, a strange, pitch-black giant tree grew from the flesh and blood.
Countless roots stretched out from white bones and skulls, supporting the trunk of the pitch-black giant tree. Vein-like patterns surfaced across its bark, while within its enormous black crown, faces seemed to flicker in and out of view.
Strands of black aerial roots descended from midair and pierced into the bodies of the monsters that had appeared nearby.
Life and death, evil and beauty...
All manner of harmony and disharmony, symmetry and asymmetry, could be found upon this strange lifeform!
After this strange black-blood giant tree emerged, its enormous crown wantonly expanded outward. A thin mist appeared and continued to grow denser...
"Damn it, it's a 'Demon'!"
Nearby, the experts from the Yuan He Mountain branch had all gathered, with Linghu Yang at their head.
Linghu Yang gritted his teeth as he stared at the scene. "The demon beasts around Black Stone City have been migrating so frequently because a 'Demon' was born! Now, this Demon has chosen the center of Black Stone City to take root. Black Stone City... is finished!"
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