Slaying Tu Qing

"Fang Mu! What are you trying to do?"

Watching Fang Mu slowly approach, his killing intent completely undisguised, Tu Qing couldn't help feeling uneasy. He raised his saber and slowly backed away, shouting in accusation.

"What am I trying to do? Haven't I made it obvious enough?"

"I've been sick of the sight of you for a long time! If I weren't wary of your father, I would have crushed you to death long ago. You wouldn't have had the chance to jump around in front of me every day."

Fang Mu spoke with a gloomy expression as he slowly raised the long sword in his hand. The moment he finished speaking, he blurred forward and slashed at Tu Qing.

With a thunderous bang, Tu Qing let out a miserable cry and was sent flying. One of his arms was directly shattered and blown apart by Fang Mu's punch.

"Ah!" Tu Qing crashed to the ground not far away, clutching his arm and crying out in agony.

"You filthy bastard! You were hiding your cultivation! Aren't you a Fifth Rank Realm martial artist?"

Listening to Tu Qing's furious roar and seeing the vicious hatred in his eyes, Fang Mu calmly said, "I am a Fifth Rank Realm martial artist!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Fang Mu flashed past in a blur and instantly closed in on Tu Qing.

"Bang!" A thunderous boom rang out.

Fang Mu spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying, smashing through several trees at the waist.

"I'll kill you!" Tu Qing snarled viciously and flung out the talisman paper in his hand.

The talisman paper burst into flames and transformed into several fist-sized fireballs that shot toward Fang Mu.

Seeing the fireballs streaking toward him, Fang Mu also took out a piece of talisman paper.

This was the talisman paper Huihai had given him before he left. He had said that it was called the Golden Bell Shield, and that it could be activated three times to withstand a full-powered strike from a First Rank Realm martial artist.

Fang Mu also knew that the old schemer Huihai naturally hadn't been that kindhearted.

He was clearly afraid that Fang Mu would be killed by the ill-intentioned Tu Qing during the mission, or that some accident would occur. That was why he had given Fang Mu a protective talisman.

As Fang Mu activated the talisman paper, a golden shield of light enveloped the space before him.

Amid a succession of thunderous explosions, Fang Mu walked out of the blazing blast zone completely unharmed.

"Y-you have talismans too?"

Seeing Fang Mu gradually approach and the golden shield of light surrounding him, Tu Qing asked in panic.

"Clang, clang!" Like the sound of a blade hacking into a great bell, the full-powered sneak attack from Tu Qing numbed the web between his thumb and forefinger as the Golden Bell Shield rebounded it.

"Pfft!"

Fang Mu's swift sword pierced directly through Tu Qing's heart.

"You! You dare kill me? My father won't let you off!"

"In an age when people competed by relying on their fathers, I didn't have a good background or powerful patronage."

"But at least I fought to the death and killed you. Your father is strong, but you won't live to see that day. That strength and those achievements belong to him, not you."

Watching Tu Qing crash to the ground, Fang Mu muttered to himself.

"Cough, cough! Brother! Are you all right?"

At that moment, Fang Jing walked over, coughing several times in succession as she asked anxiously.

"Xiaojing! How are you?"

Fang Mu came back to himself and anxiously asked Fang Jing, whose lips were stained with blood and whose face was somewhat pale.

"I'm fine! I didn't suffer any real injuries because of the Snake Scale Armor you gave me before, Brother. It just hurts a little."

"Take these two Essence Blood Pills first. Rest here and refine them."

"Mm!"

As he watched Fang Jing close her eyes to recuperate, Fang Mu glared at Xixi in irritation.

That creature was far too timid. Having it protect Fang Jing truly hadn't been a good choice.

It seemed he would have to find a way to toughen up its nerve in the future.

After checking that there was no one around, Fang Mu refined all the corpses on the ground into pools of blood, effectively destroying the evidence.

The fragmented memories of the others contained nothing of value.

Tu Qing's fragmented memories, on the other hand, contained quite a few useful pieces of information.

The talisman paper Tu Qing had used earlier was a fire-element talisman called a Fireball Talisman.

Such talismans were exceedingly precious and impossible to buy on the open market. Even Tu Qing's Fireball Talisman had been obtained with great difficulty by his father, Tu Shan, who had given it to him as a protective talisman.

There was another piece of information: the person who had secretly watched him two nights ago had been none other than Tu Qing and his father, Tu Shan.

Tu Shan had already noticed him. That was not good news for Fang Mu.

From Tu Qing's memories, Fang Mu learned that Tu Shan seemed to be plotting something. He appeared to be searching for Qingzhu City's sacrificial deity while also coveting the position of Chief Envoy.

Tu Shan seemed to harbor ill intentions toward Chief Envoy Ye Tian, wanting to replace him.

"I hope Tu Shan doesn't court death. He should have already mastered the Demonic Scripture."

"But he doesn't know that it's a path to certain death. If he truly pushes me too far, I'll make sure he dies a gruesome death."

Fang Mu gave a cold, inward laugh. Since he dared to kill Tu Qing, he naturally had at least some confidence in dealing with Tu Shan as well.

Collecting his thoughts, he carried Fang Jing and continued deeper into the woods.

Although he had killed Tu Qing and the others, he still had to find Wen Xuan and Qi Zhu. Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain himself if he returned alone.

The deeper they went into the dense forest, the more silent it became. They couldn't even hear birdsong or the chirping of insects.

After entering the depths of the forest, a black shadow soundlessly followed behind Fang Mu. The thing moved extremely fast, slipping through the grass and woods like a phantom.

The black shadow silently drew near. Fang Mu seemed completely unaware of it and continued forward with Fang Jing on his back.

"Hiss!"

A hiss rang out. The black shadow shot forward like a sharp sword, suddenly launching a sneak attack and lunging toward Fang Jing to bite her.

"Courting death!"

Fang Mu's spiritual sense was incredibly sharp. He had already sensed something strange behind him. When the black shadow struck, he had already carried Fang Jing aside and dodged the attack, then slashed at his opponent with one sword.

The black shadow was incredibly fast. When its first strike missed, it fled into the distance, vanishing in a flash.

It was simply too fast. By the time Fang Mu's sword came down, it had already escaped, leaving his slash cleaving empty air.

"Roar!"

Suddenly, a roar rang out. A Black Panther that had come from nowhere sprang out of the dense forest and lunged at Fang Mu and Fang Jing.

"Brother! Look out!" Fang Jing cried out in alarm.

"It's fine! It's only a leopard. It can't hurt me."

Fang Mu had great confidence in his own strength. After reassuring her, he advanced instead of retreating, charging at the Black Panther and engaging it in a fierce battle.

The Black Panther was extremely fast, but Fang Mu's Extreme Wind Speed was no mere decoration either. In their contest of speed, the two were evenly matched.

But Fang Mu's physical strength was simply too powerful. Every sword strike carved wounds deep enough to expose bone into the Black Panther's body.

Just as he had suppressed the Black Panther and gained the complete upper hand, an intense sense of danger suddenly surged over him.

Without even thinking, Fang Mu hurriedly dodged to one side while simultaneously unleashing a swift sword slash.

With a resounding clang, a black shadow was sent flying by his sword.

It was a Green Snake covered in thick scales. If Fang Mu hadn't dodged quickly enough, he likely would have been injured by it.

The Green Snake wasn't injured after being sent flying by Fang Mu's full-powered sword strike. The scales covering its body were extraordinarily tough, leaving behind only a faint white mark.

Fang Mu activated the Demon Vine and sent it shooting toward the Green Snake, intending to coil it up.

But the Green Snake was extremely cunning and seemed to possess considerable intelligence. After its first strike missed, it instantly fled into the distance.

"Roar!!"

The frenzied Black Panther let out a furious roar. Instead of taking the opportunity to escape, it chose to attack head-on and lunged at Fang Mu once more.

But this was not a case of the brave prevailing in a narrow encounter. Faced with the reckless Black Panther, Fang Mu no longer held back.

When the Demon Vine's strike missed and failed to catch the Green Snake, Fang Mu controlled it and sent it shooting toward the Black Panther.

As Fang Mu blurred aside to evade the Black Panther's pounce, the Black Panther's attack missed, and it was immediately bound by the swift Demon Vine.