Eight Great Yao Kings (Please Bookmark)

Great Liang World.

Sanyuan City.

After confirming that Situ Qingqing was keeping an eye on Chen Ping, Fang Xi waited for a while longer. Once the artifact was finished, he finally sealed the cellar with a Protective Talisman and crossed over to the Great Liang World once more.

Standing by the roadside, Fang Xi sized up the merchants and travelers coming and going.

Strangely, these people walked past without noticing anything at all. Even when Fang Xi pressed his face right up against a young woman, she did not spit out a single "pervert!"

The culprit behind all this was naturally the leather armor Fang Xi was wearing.

At Fang Xi's request, the Artifact Refiner from the Hundred Refinements Workshop had forged this Low-grade Magic Tool—the Camouflage Cloak—in just a few days!

Several Minor Arrays had been engraved onto the magic robe. It could repel dust, keep the wearer warm in winter and cool in summer, and even adjust its looseness and tightness slightly according to the wearer, ensuring a comfortable fit.

Most importantly, it possessed one major function—confounding the mind!

According to Master Gu at the time of delivery, as long as the wearer infused it with magic power and did not reveal himself voluntarily, ordinary people would absolutely be unable to detect him.

He had already had the laborers helping out in the Hundred Refinements Workshop's rear courtyard confirm this.

If these ordinary laborers were placed in the mortal world, every one of them would be peerless experts with astonishing strength. Yet not a single one had noticed Fang Xi using the artifact's effect.

Of course, in Master Gu's eyes, this artifact was a complete hodgepodge.

That was because it lacked the final high-grade array—Spirit Concealing Array!

Therefore, as long as there was even a First-level Qi Refining cultivator nearby who activated Minor Spells such as the Heavenly Eye or Spirit Eye, they would inevitably discover him.

The other party had even rather obsessively expressed his willingness to upgrade the artifact once more, bringing it to perfection—and he could even offer a discount.

But Fang Xi declined outright.

After all, that Chameleon Yao was only a First-grade Low-rank creature. Using the precious Spirit Concealing Array on it would be far too wasteful.

More importantly... this array was much more expensive than Dust Repelling or Water Repelling!

Fang Xi's spirit stones were limited for now. He could not squander them like that.

The large sum of spirit stones saved in this way was all exchanged by Fang Xi for Qi and Blood Pills and other pills useful to body cultivators. He intended to improve himself considerably in the Great Liang World.

After the previous verification, the method of improving his martial arts first and then seeking resources for cultivation had proven feasible.

If my martial arts can reach the equivalent of the third stage of body cultivation, there will be almost no danger for me in the Green Bamboo Mountain Market...

Fang Xi wore the Camouflage Cloak and sauntered all the way to the city gate.

The soldiers who questioned travelers and collected taxes were like blind men. They did not stop him in the slightest, allowing him to enter Sanyuan City.

Fang Xi found a secluded place, stopped infusing magic power into the Camouflage Cloak, and deactivated its disguise effect.

The clothing on his body automatically changed color, transforming into a blue-green scholar's robe. He looked just like an ordinary scholar as he walked onto the official road broad enough for eight carriages to travel side by side.

I wonder how the White Cloud Martial Arts School and Fatty Han's group are doing... But nearly two months have passed, so they should have settled down in Sanyuan City by now, right?

Fang Xi walked and stopped along the way before halting in front of a huge tower.

The tower had been built square and imposing, so tall that it nearly stole the thunder from the nearby Prefectural Yamen.

A notice board stood on each side of the tower, with several bright-red marks scrawled across them.

"Dingzhou's Eight Great Yao Kings!"

"Monster Hunting List!"

"Rare Treasures List!"

"Latent Dragon Nascent Phoenix List!"

Fang Xi identified them one by one. He directly skipped the Latent Dragon Nascent Phoenix List, which specialized in ranking young Martial Artists and changed the most rapidly, and turned his gaze toward the Yao beast list, where the Eight Great Yao Kings headed the rankings.

"Old Dragon Pool Flood Dragon... first among Dingzhou's Eight Great Yao Kings. Once annihilated an army of a thousand and slew thirteen True Energy Martial Masters... Any brave warrior who can kill the Flood Dragon will receive one hundred thousand taels of gold, a court appointment as a Dingzhou Army Captain, a residence in Dingzhou, and ten Scarlet Blood Lingzhi..."

"Gale Canyon Roc King... one of Dingzhou's Eight Great Yao Kings. Its flight leaves no trace... bounty..."

"Cloud Linked Mountain Old One-Eye... Wolf Yao, one of Dingzhou's Eight Great Yao Kings, cunning by nature..."

"Great Yao Brown Bear. Appeared near Daqing Village three months ago. Injured seventeen people and killed five... Bounty: three thousand taels of silver..."

Yao beasts were different from fiends—they could be killed.

Therefore, Dingzhou only ranked Yao beasts, not fiends!

The so-called "Eight Great Yao Kings" were Yao beasts that had ravaged Dingzhou for years but had yet to be subjugated. Their bounties were extremely generous.

According to Fang Xi's understanding, Yao Kings were roughly equivalent to Late Qi Refining or even peak Qi Refining cultivators.

Great Yao were roughly equivalent to mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators.

The Snake Yao and Chameleon Yao he had encountered before could at most be considered lesser Yao. As for the Roc King and the Flood Dragon... among human Martial Artists, they were True Gang Martial Saints worthy of being honored as "Grandmasters"—and perhaps even more difficult to deal with.

Dingzhou's Eight Great Yao Kings are a festering disease that ordinary people cannot cure... But to me, they're simply piles of treasure.

Fang Xi gazed at the Eight Great Yao Kings List, his eyes flickering slightly.

Of course, he knew his own limits. Even without the methods of cultivators, those Yao Kings were not opponents he could deal with easily.

But once his strength improved, that might not remain true...

"Old Dragon Pool Flood Dragon? Is there really a First-grade Flood Dragon? Pure-blooded Dragon Seeds are at least Second-grade Yao beasts... equivalent to Foundation Establishment Great Cultivators. This is probably just a Snake Seed that awakened dragon blood? Even so... damn, it would still be worth an astronomical number of spirit stones..."

As Fang Xi looked at the descriptions of the Eight Great Yao Kings, it was as though he could see mountains of spirit stones!

Unfortunately, with his current strength, he could at most go looking for trouble with a Great Yao.

"No... There's no hurry to look for a Great Yao either. Sanyuan City controls most of Dingzhou's manpower and resources, so it definitely has more detailed intelligence. I can also advance my Primordial Chaos True Skill further before making plans..."

"Besides... such a vast prefectural city might not be without other Grandmaster martial arts!"

Fang Xi stroked the Camouflage Cloak on his body and revealed an entirely harmless smile.

Just as he was pondering, a commotion suddenly came from the street.

"Clean-Street Huang is here!"

"Everyone, run!"

Fang Xi looked over and discovered someone riding a horse straight down the street. A mass of vendors and pedestrians were unable to dodge in time and scattered in a sorry state.

The bright and beautiful young girl on horseback not only failed to rein herself in but burst into loud laughter.

"Who is that?"

He casually grabbed someone beside him and asked.

The man had initially wanted to break free, but after discovering that the hand gripping him was like an iron pincer, he could only answer, "That's Second Miss Huang of the Huang Household, Huang Ximei!"

"The Huang Household of Sanyuan City's aristocratic clans?"

Fang Xi understood.

It seemed that no matter where one went, there were always people who relied on their family background to run rampant without restraint.

"Forget it, forget it. We can't afford to offend her!"

Only after Second Miss Huang had swaggered openly through the streets did he avoid the vendors who were secretly cursing while packing up their stalls and enter the Monster Hunting Tower.

The first and second floors of the Monster Hunting Tower were actually enormous inns.

Many people who practiced martial arts liked to rest here and obtain the latest intelligence on Yao beasts.

Fang Xi sat down, and a waiter immediately came over to pour tea.

"Is this guest a Martial Artist? Would you like the latest and most complete versions of all the rankings from our tower?"

The waiter asked with a smile.

"Oh? Tell me, what's the difference between those and the rankings posted outside?" Fang Xi became interested and casually flicked a small silver ingot over.

The waiter's eyes immediately lit up. "You may not know this, guest, but the rankings sold by our tower are much more detailed... They especially contain detailed records of the gains and losses from every previous campaign against Yao beasts."

"That sounds good. Bring me a copy—the most complete one."

Silver and gold were the things Fang Xi lacked the least, so he smiled when he heard this.

"Coming right up!"

The waiter happily agreed and had just turned to leave when he suddenly let out a shriek.

Smack!

A riding crop that had whipped around from behind him sent the waiter sprawling, revealing a bright young girl in goose-yellow clothing behind him.

"Huang Ximei?" Fang Xi's brows creased slightly. He had no idea why this Second Miss had decided to make trouble for him.

"Your looks really are quite good!"

Huang Ximei swept her eyes over Fang Xi and nodded in satisfaction. "You even have a heroic air about you. Much better than those sissy boys... I've taken a fancy to you."

"..." Fang Xi was instantly speechless. He rubbed his cheek.

His appearance had been subtly adjusted by his cultivation technique, making him uglier than his usual self. How could he still be attracting bees and butterflies like this?

But... if I could use this opportunity to infiltrate Huang Manor, that might not be a bad thing.

A thought suddenly flashed through Fang Xi's mind. He asked, "Second Miss, what do you mean by this?"

"Hahaha!" Huang Ximei laughed with utter abandon. "I'm going to drag you home and make you my eighty-second male favorite!"

"Ahem!"

Fang Xi coughed twice as if he had choked.

Then he looked at Huang Ximei with a hint of pity.

Although Fang Xi enjoyed savoring tea, he had no interest in this sort of merchandise. "What if I don't want to?"

"If you don't want to..."

Huang Ximei drew close and breathed out an orchid-scented breath. "Then I'll use force. I'll capture your parents, friends, wife, and children... and make you watch as I torture them... Hahaha... Isn't that a wonderful idea?"

This woman... is insane! Looking at that beautiful face opposite him, Fang Xi reached his conclusion. His voice turned cold and ominous. "Aren't you afraid... of provoking someone you cannot afford to offend?"

"Hehe... It's only thrilling when there's a sense of novelty. As for people I can't afford to offend? I'm Second Miss Huang, and my uncle is the Dingzhou Army Captain. In all of Dingzhou, there isn't a single person this lady cannot afford to offend..." Huang Ximei gazed dreamily at Fang Xi's face. "Such a handsome face. If I carved a few slashes into it, the sight would surely be exquisite..."

"Oh no, oh no... That Huang girl is about to abduct another handsome man." Not far away, a tableful of people watched the scene, their faces filled with anticipation.

"That Huang girl isn't bad-looking. It wouldn't be a loss even if he were abducted..." A young man immediately fell into thought.

"Hey, don't be stupid... This Huang girl is infamous for having something wrong with her head. She loves to toy with her male pets and then torture them to death!" The young man's Martial Artist elder immediately tugged him by the ear.

Just as everyone thought Miss Huang was about to once again ruthlessly trample a flower today—

Pfft!

"Ghk..."

Huang Ximei's expression went blank. Her eyes lowered, and she saw Fang Xi's hand.

Fang Xi's hand was pale and slender... and seemed even to possess a kind of demonic quality.

At that moment, two fingers of that hand were embedded in her throat!

"So fragile..." Fang Xi withdrew his fingers and looked down at the woman sprawled on the floor. His voice was icy. "Do you know what it means when an ordinary man flies into a rage and blood is spilled within five paces?"