Metamorphosis

Ji Xuanyuan was about to reveal his identity as an imperial prince when he suddenly realized it was inappropriate... His words caught halfway out.

Leaving aside the fact that no one would believe him in these ragged clothes, more importantly, just as Xiao Fan had warned him before, someone was trying to harm him right now. Before he was truly safe, exposing his identity was no different from suicide!

"Go on, then? Who are you? Why'd you stop talking?"

The surrounding armored soldiers burst into laughter, shoving Ji Xuanyuan back and forth.

Some went even further, grabbing his hair and kicking and beating him.

Ji Xuanyuan had never suffered such humiliation in his life. The grievance in his heart was beyond measure.

More and more people gathered to watch at the city gate. None dared step forward to stop it; they could only watch helplessly.

"It's over... What good could come from going against Zhang Bin?"

"Exactly. When commoners fight officials, aren't they just courting death? Besides, Zhang Bin has the young master of the Qin family backing him."

"Isn't that the truth!"

The spectators muttered among themselves in a flurry of hushed voices.

Just then, in full view of the crowd, the soldier thug kicked Ji Xuanyuan to the ground. "Kneel for your lord here and kowtow three times. If I'm in a good mood, I might just spare your life."

"Pah!" Ji Xuanyuan snapped angrily.

"Beat him!" The soldier thug flew into a rage, and the others swarmed in with fists and kicks.

Ji Xuanyuan refused to submit even unto death. He gritted his teeth and endured it all without making a sound.

Not far away, Xiao Fan was worn out from dodging and had no chance to rescue the young master.

Anxiety rose in Xiao Fan's heart. If this kept up, with the young master's frail body, someone was going to die!

With that thought, he gritted his teeth. Rather than wait for Zhang Bin to lose control on his own, he kicked out with all his strength and sent Zhang Bin flying. The kick was incredibly powerful, but it dealt zero damage to the enemy while inflicting eight hundred upon himself...

Xiao Fan threw away the longsword, its edge already badly curled, and took out the poisoned dagger he had "picked up" from the black-clad woman on Golden Glow Mountain.

He had not wanted to use this dagger, because the deadly poison on it could very well expose their trail. But things had come to this—he could only gamble everything!

The dagger might have been incomparably sharp, but it still had difficulty breaking through Zhang Bin's skin of bronze and bones of iron. If the poison on its blade was to take effect, breaking his defense was a necessary condition!

Ignoring the searing pain of the fracture in his calf, he sliced open his palm with the dagger, and blood dripped down along the blade.

Ordinary swords could not break his defense—then he would enchant it!

Among the Five Elements, fire could overcome metal! To cleave through skin of bronze and bones of iron, perhaps extreme heat would work!

"Fire Element Art!"

Boom!!! His blood burst into flame, coating the dagger!

Zhang Bin was truly startled. "Five Element arts? You damn well cultivate the path of spells too? Hahaha... Interesting!" Still laughing crazily, he charged in once more.

But this time, Xiao Fan did not give an inch! The extraordinary spiritual resonance within him was pushed to its absolute limit, his vital aura surging like a flood, even triggering a reaction from the calamity poison in his body!

Calamity Poison Value +1... +3... +5...

"Second Form of the Flame Dance Nine Forms, Flame Slash!" Xiao Fan attacked with all his might, unleashing his strongest trump card!

Shing!

The blade swept out, a flaming moon hanging in the air. Blood splashed across the scene! Even skin of bronze and bones of iron were cleaved apart!

Zhang Bin stared in disbelief at the two-foot-long wound across his chest. His rat eyes bulged wide, and his mind went blank for a moment.

Yet after that desperate, all-or-nothing clash, Xiao Fan had not come away unscathed either. The blade had shattered completely, and a horrifying wound split his left shoulder, blood dyeing half his arm!

Ignoring his own injuries, he sprang forward and lashed out with a powerful sweeping kick.

Smack smack smack...

The five city guards beating Ji Xuanyuan scattered like petals in the wind, rolling across the ground.

"You all right?"

Seeing the young master curled up pitifully on the ground, Xiao Fan's heart clenched with lingering fear.

Ji Xuanyuan immediately sprang up, ducked behind Xiao Fan, and shouted indignantly, "Of course I'm not all right! Beating people in broad daylight under the clear skies—look, I'm bleeding! Here... and here too!"

Still bouncing around like that—seemed the problem was not serious... Only then did Xiao Fan breathe a sigh of relief.

"That guy should already be poisoned. It won't be long before..."

Before Xiao Fan could finish, he saw that Zhang Bin showed no sign of collapsing.

On the contrary... the calamity poison within Zhang Bin completely spiraled out of control in that instant!

Seeing how strange Zhang Bin looked, the surrounding soldier thugs could not help but grow afraid.

"Bin... Brother Bin... Are... are you all right?"

"Could this be... mutation?"

"Damn it! Quick, get to the Bureau of Celestial Observation!"

Everyone stared at Zhang Bin in his current state, scattering back in horror. They could no longer spare a thought for the three-man donkey-cart group!

Zhang Bin's body had swollen to nearly twice its size. Jet-black bone spurs and malformed flesh burst through his armor, while the wildly proliferating meat shoved his head down onto his left shoulder. One leg was long and the other short, and thick purplish blood dripped ceaselessly from him—enough to make anyone lose their appetite!

The head on his left shoulder had lost all human expression. His hollow, vacant eyes showed nothing but whites.

In its place, his cyst-ridden abdomen split open into a gaping, blood-filled maw.

"No! Brother Bin, don't! It's me, Little Yu!"

Splat...

In the blink of an eye, the soldier scoundrel named Little Yu was separated head from body—his head was "inside," while his body remained "outside."

"Ahhh!!!"

Amid a burst of screams, the entire west gate fell into utter chaos. The city guards retreated toward the gate one after another, not daring to step forward at all.

Once a ranked martial artist completely mutated, the danger they posed far exceeded all imagination!

"Kill... kill... kill..."

The flesh monster once known as Zhang Bin had completely lost his mind, beginning to attack every living thing in sight without distinction.

This sight truly exceeded Xiao Fan's expectations. He had long heard of practitioners of transcendent paths losing control due to curse poison, but this was his first time witnessing it firsthand.

The situation was far more terrifying than he had imagined. Had he known it would turn out like this, he would never have dared provoke Zhang Bin into losing control.

So this is what it means for curse poison to run out of control... Xiao Fan watched the rampaging monster with lingering fear, his dread of curse poison deepening by another degree.

For a time, the scene was in complete disarray. Xiao Fan was already struggling just to ensure Ji Xuanyuan's safety; there was no way he could stop Zhang Bin.

Amid the chaos, Wang Mazi had run off somewhere as well. The crowd had been thoroughly scattered!

Just then, seven yellow-faced flags shot down from the sky, planting themselves in a circle around Zhang Bin. Their lights connected, forming a circular formation.

"Seven Severances Demon-Suppressing Seal!"

A refined and elegant man in flowing white robes drifted down upon the flags. Forming a hand seal with one hand, he pointed two fingers at Zhang Bin like a sword. "Go!"

The moment the words fell, seven different talismans appeared upon the yellow flags... eye, ear, lips, hand, abdomen, brain, heart!

Sever sight, sever hearing, sever taste, sever touch, sever breath, sever thought, sever life!

Seven illusory chains shot from the tips of the yellow flags and plunged into Zhang Bin's body. With a boom, a blast of air erupted, and the monster collapsed at once, devoid of life.

Holy shit! That was kind of cool. He really got to show off...

Xiao Fan stared dumbfoundedly, his mouth slowly falling open. He took all the limelight for himself. Doesn't that make me look utterly useless?

Then he reconsidered. Right now, he was merely a ninth-rank Qi Refinement martial artist... In the capital, he really was utterly useless. So never mind.

"That white robe... he's a Bureau of Celestial Observation sorcerer!"

"Thank heavens... we're saved!"

The disturbance finally subsided. The white-robed sorcerer summoned several city guards. "You lot, clean up the corpse and send it to the Bureau of Celestial Observation."

"Yes, sir!"

Immediately afterward, the white-robed sorcerer took a palm-sized cloth pouch from his waist and beckoned through the air.

The seven yellow flags embedded in Zhang Bin's corpse simultaneously pulled free, shrinking in midair to the size of embroidery needles before flying back into the cloth pouch.

Now that's what you call professional. Xiao Fan thought that he should have taken up the mystical arts sooner—flashy, handsome, and perfect for showing off!

"Huh? Li Mingyuan!" At that moment, Ji Xuanyuan seemed to recognize the white-robed sorcerer and waved at him.

Li Mingyuan looked toward Ji Xuanyuan. The disheveled man seemed familiar, but he could not recognize him at once.

"Do you know me, sir?" Li Mingyuan asked.

Ji Xuanyuan grinned and ran over with a foolishly eager look, pointing at his own nose. "It's me! Ji..."

"Ji Laowu!"