Fang Xi felt around inside his robe, pulled out a small medicine bottle, poured out a pink pill, and shoved it directly into Chunyu's mouth.
Although Chunyu was unconscious, she still resisted faintly.
But Fang Xi had no intention of being polite. He forcibly pried open her teeth and used a finger to push the pill inside...
Besides that, he took out several golden needles and inserted them into Chunyu's head.
"Ugh..."
Chunyu's eyelids trembled violently before she abruptly opened her eyes. Her originally clear gaze was now hazy.
"Tell me your name..."
Fang Xi's eyes flashed brilliantly, and his words carried a strange power.
This was the Soul Bewitching Technique!
It was a little trick Fang Xi had learned from the Nine Profound Venerable.
It required the aid of medicine and acupuncture, and could only be used by a cultivator with Spiritual Awareness on a mortal without Spiritual Awareness. Even if the target were a first-level Qi Refinement cultivator, it would be completely ineffective. Its limitations were considerable.
As for techniques like the legendary Soul Searching Technique, which could be used on cultivators, Fang Xi had never even seen one.
"Chunyu..."
A trace of azure light suddenly surfaced in Chunyu's eyes as she answered blankly.
"Tell me your position in Yuan He Mountain..." Fang Xi continued questioning her.
"Yuan He Mountain's steward stationed in Black Stone City..."
"Why did you come out this time?"
"To capture Zhang Junming. The guarding senior uncle instructed me to leave him alive..."
"To capture him? That's a little strange..." Fang Xi rubbed his chin. "Tell me all the Martial Arts you know... If you have any manuals or Divine Intent Diagrams, tell me where they are..."
Half an hour later.
"What a pity..."
Fang Xi gazed at Chunyu's beautiful figure and sighed.
According to the confession of the person affected by the Soul Bewitching Technique, she had not cultivated Yuan He Mountain's famous secret sect inheritance—the Yuan He Five Thunder Hands!
In fact, within the entire Yuan He Mountain branch, only Linghu Yang had obtained the true inheritance, and even his portion was incomplete. It reached only the level of a True Energy Martial Master, with nothing afterward concerning the Martial Saint realm.
Well, in Chunyu's mind, there was another title for a Grandmaster—the True Gang Martial Saint!
Aside from that, this woman was of little further use.
Fang Xi's palm gently stroked her hair, then skimmed over her rounded earlobe and delicate chin before reaching her swanlike, slender neck.
Crack!
With an expressionless face, he snapped her neck.
A beauty of her generation thus met a fragrant end.
Nothing melodramatic happened.
"Looks like I'll still have to face Linghu Yang head-on."
Fang Xi truly did not want to fight a True Energy Martial Master comparable to a second-level Body Refinement cultivator.
Even if the other party was not a cultivator and lacked many techniques.
But now, he had no other choice.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
Yuan He Mountain branch.
As team after team sent outside vanished without ever returning, even the slowest disciple noticed that something was wrong.
The disappearance of one or two teams could be blamed on bad luck.
But every disciple sent out to search for supplies had gone missing. That was absolutely beyond the abilities of mindless Wood Persons and Cursed Persons!
Outside, there was definitely a terrifying enemy hunting Yuan He Mountain's forces!
Even the enemy's tracking skills were astonishingly brilliant.
Linghu Yang had flown into a furious rage and gone out to investigate several times. He had even disguised himself as an ordinary disciple and mixed into a team as bait, yet he had never managed to catch sight of that cunning enemy!
Under such circumstances, the Martial Hall Alliance, which had originally agreed to cooperate, immediately changed its attitude to one of watchful waiting.
After all, those old foxes were best at shifting with the wind and swaying like grass on a wall.
And as Linghu Yang's temper grew increasingly volatile, beating or cursing ordinary disciples at the slightest provocation, quite a few disciples were unable to withstand the pressure and fled one after another.
As a result, the enormous Yuan He Mountain now showed signs of trees falling and monkeys scattering...
"Damn it!"
Qiao Wuchang stared at the main gate.
That originally unremarkable stretch of land now resembled a terrifying abyss.
Outside the Yuan He Mountain stronghold, countless monsters seemed to be lying in wait, specifically hunting them.
Only beside Linghu Yang could he feel even a trace of safety.
He had long since stopped daring to go outside, but as their food was consumed day and night, the anxiety in his heart increased with every passing moment.
"Steward, our food is almost gone. What should we do?"
A Yuan He Mountain disciple came beside Qiao Wuchang and reported in a low voice.
"How could that be?"
Qiao Wuchang instinctively refused to believe it. After all, they were the faction with the most ample reserves.
But after thinking it over, his face changed from white to red, and a vicious look emerged. "Today, I'll personally lead a team to search every disciple's room. Kill all the women we plundered, starting with this steward... Wouldn't that save us a great deal of food?"
"Yes..."
The disciple had originally wanted to say more, but since the steward was going to lead the way in killing the magistrate's concubine, he had nothing more to say.
"You may leave..."
After dismissing the disciple, Qiao Wuchang felt the pent-up frustration in his chest growing heavier. He muttered to himself, "No... I need to speak with Guarding Senior Uncle. This can't continue!"
Linghu Yang's movements had also been somewhat strange lately, but Qiao Wuchang had long since subconsciously ignored this abnormality.
After organizing his words in his mind, he went to Linghu Yang's door, respectfully knocked three times, and called out, "Senior Uncle Linghu, Qiao Wuchang requests an audience!"
"Come in!"
Linghu Yang's voice was extremely calm, like an undercurrent beneath an iceberg.
Qiao Wuchang pushed the door open and saw Linghu Yang putting on his outer robe. He looked at him with a smile. "Wuchang, how long have we known each other?"
"Ever since the day you came to Black Stone City, Wuchang has followed you. Counting it up, it has already been three years and six months."
Qiao Wuchang bowed as he replied.
"But... you have betrayed my trust." Linghu Yang spoke faintly.
Qiao Wuchang immediately knelt on the ground. "Please forgive me, sir. It was truly because of that villain plotting in the shadows... that I failed to capture enough Martial Artists..."
Half a month ago, when he ordered all the Martial Hall Masters, Linghu Yang had given Qiao Wuchang a task.
With Yuan He Mountain's strength, ambushing and capturing a few isolated Martial Artists should have been extremely easy.
But after that damned mortal enemy appeared, Qiao Wuchang did not even dare leave the main gate, much less capture any Martial Artists.
"Forget it. Help me with one more matter, and I'll forgive you." Linghu Yang walked to one side of the room, lifted a floorboard, and revealed a black hole beneath it. He waved. "Follow me!"
"I'm willing to lay down my liver and brain for you, and face death ten thousand times without regret!"
Qiao Wuchang hurried after him, somewhat astonished in his heart. When had Linghu Yang dug a tunnel in his own bedroom?
The tunnel was not long. Once inside, it led to a cellar.
What was in the cellar was actually...
Qiao Wuchang's eyes widened slightly.
Linghu Yang's hollow voice drifted over. "Didn't you say... you'd lay down your liver and brain for me? Then I'll grant your wish!"
"Ah!"
A bloodcurdling scream suddenly rang out from the cellar.
"Brother Fang!"
Zhang Junming stood shoulder to shoulder with Fang Xi, gazing at the Yuan He Mountain stronghold beneath the overcast sky.
These days, he and Fang Xi had joined forces to slaughter Yuan He Mountain's expedition teams, cutting them down until Yuan He Mountain had been forced to hide in its shell. He had vented his pent-up anger thoroughly and felt utterly refreshed. "There aren't many Yuan He Mountain disciples left now. Only Qiao Wuchang is any good, but he's holed up too. What should we do next?"
"It's simple. We kill our way in through the main gate. You hold off Qiao Wuchang, and I'll take down Linghu Yang. It's that simple!"
Fang Xi calculated the strength of both sides and made his decision.
The balance of power had now shifted. When it was time to strike, they should strike without the slightest hesitation!
There were already too few disciples left in the Yuan He Mountain branch to satisfy the prerequisite of ants biting an elephant to death.
"Perfect! I'll be the vanguard!"
Zhang Junming threw back his head and laughed before striding forward to the main gate of the Yuan He Mountain stronghold.
He gathered his breath and let out a shout. Muscles rippled across his body, and lump after lump of flesh swelled along his arm, as though all his strength had been gathered into a single fist. He suddenly smashed it forward!
One Punch Opens the Heavens!
Bang!
The thick, sturdy gate instantly shattered into pieces.
Then Zhang Junming charged into the Yuan He Mountain stronghold like a war chariot, and the screams of numerous disciples rang out.
"Hm?"
Fang Xi lightly tapped the ground with his foot, and his entire body leaped several yards onto the wall.
He watched Zhang Junming slaughter Yuan He Mountain's disciples, but a trace of surprise stirred in his heart.
Where's Linghu Yang?
And Qiao Wuchang too? Neither of them has made a move?
Something was clearly amiss. Fang Xi held back from acting and lurked along behind Zhang Junming, who was slaughtering his way in all directions.
"Haha... A bunch of cowards, and you still dare surround and kill me?"
Zhang Junming punched a Yuan He Mountain disciple to the ground, then viciously stamped down with one foot.
The head beneath his foot exploded like a watermelon, red and white splattering across the ground.
The scene looked terrifying, but as a True Energy Martial Artist, he was not moved in the slightest.
Even if he was somewhat kindhearted, he would never show saintly compassion toward enemies who sought to kill him.
In this era, where one could starve to death at any moment, mercy toward others was cruelty toward oneself.
Zhang Junming carved out a bloody path and slaughtered his way into the inner courtyard. By then, he also felt that something was wrong. "Linghu Yang, Qiao Wuchang... Get out here!"
The next moment, a door shattered.
Amid flying splinters, a figure struck out horizontally and slammed forward with one palm.
Zhang Junming's muscles rippled as he met the attack with his fist.
Bang!
The instant fist and palm collided, Zhang Junming felt a terrifying force surge toward him, like mountains collapsing and seas overturning. It smashed through the True Energy he had unleashed at his peak.
Pfft!
His Cloud Whale Soft Body was broken. He was sent flying backward and spat out a large mouthful of blood.
Half-kneeling on the ground, Zhang Junming stared at the figure before him and called out word by word, "Ling... hu... Yang?"
Only a True Energy Martial Master could easily shatter the explosive release of his entire body's True Energy!
"Are you the rat that's been hiding outside all this time?"
Linghu Yang wore a blue outer robe. He turned and looked at Zhang Junming, disappointment showing in his eyes. "You're nothing special..."
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