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Chapter 526: Ruthless Hand (Seeking Monthly Votes)

Chapter 526: Ruthless Hand (Seeking Monthly Votes)

‘Actually, I don’t really care. After all, everything truly important is stored within the Mountain Sea Pearl’s cave estate. . . ’

Fang Xi inwardly grumbled, yet found it ill-suited to chastise loyal retainers. He could only say, “You all have worked hard. . . ”

“To see Young Master unharmed today, there is no hardship. ”

Zhong Hong Yu said softly, “The reason we were able to survive is largely thanks to several fellow Daoists, such as this Junior Sister Ling Shu. . . ”

“Fairy Ling Shu, we meet again. ”

Fang Xi looked at Ling Shu.

“Greetings, Senior! ”

Ling Shu gazed at Fang Xi’s youthful face, secretly comparing it to Yun Jizi in her heart, and instantly felt that this appearance was much more approachable. “Ling Shu is alone and helpless, I beg the Island Master to permit me to join Emerald Island. ”

Fang Xi glanced at Ling Shu with a hint of surprise, then recalled the little girl from the auction, and couldn’t help but sigh. “Very well. Huang Yungong and I are, after all, considered friends. From now on, you may cultivate on Emerald Island. ”

After chatting briefly with Ling Shu and Zheng Shan, Fang Xi then looked at Liu Xu.

After decades of not meeting, the young girl from back then had grown into a peerlessly beautiful fairy.

Moreover, she had achieved Core Formation using the ‘Azure Wood Longevity Art’, effectively treading the path he had not taken before.

“Liu Xu. . . you’ve actually achieved Core Formation. Clearly, your cultivation has been diligent. ”

Fang Xi thought for a moment, then swept his storage ring.

Streaks of light flew out, transforming into magical treasures of various forms—blades, spears, swords, halberds, rings, banners, pagodas, mirrors, and more—hovering in mid-air. “You’ve all worked hard during this time. You may each choose one of these magical treasures. . . ”

In any case, for him now, even fourth-rank spiritual treasures were hardly worth a glance, let alone third-rank magical treasures.

“Thank you, Island Master! ”

Everyone bowed in gratitude, each taking a magical treasure, then exited the grand hall.

At this point, Fang Xi finally looked towards a spot in the void.

“Young Master Yun, you truly have a ruthless heart. . . ”

Nangong Li emerged, her eyes, capable of expressing both joy and vexation, fixed on Fang Xi’s face. “Although I, your humble servant, knew you had something hidden, to think your true appearance is this handsome. . . I feel quite short-changed from before. . . ”

“Cough, cough. . . ”

Fang Xi coughed. “There are still others here. Mind the impression you’re making! ”

The Earth Mountain Turtle, Gui Shan, who had been cowering in the corner, immediately wished he could retract his head entirely into his shell.

Knowing he couldn’t hide, he could only rise and bow. “This old servant greets master. . . Previously, when Emerald Island faced trouble, this old servant failed in his duty. I beg master for punishment. . . ”

“Very well. Given you are but an old turtle, you indeed couldn’t contend against the numerous Nascent Souls from both orthodox and demonic paths. . . ”

Fang Xi waved a hand. “Offer a bottle of your origin vital blood, and this matter will be dropped. . . ”

“Yes! ”

Gui Shan agreed, though a pang of heartache simultaneously struck him. After all, this was his origin vital blood!

After Gui Shan also departed, Fang Xi looked at Nangong Li. “Alright, now you can tell me about the schemes of both the orthodox and demonic paths. . . ”

Nangong Li’s beautiful eyes swirled. “Right here? Or. . . perhaps we should find another place? ”

...

Late at night.

Fang Xi returned to his own cave abode.

Although he had heard much from Nangong Li, he didn’t necessarily believe it all.

At this moment, he naturally had to question the person involved.

He sat cross-legged. The Soul Suppressing Pagoda emerged in his hand, and as a magic incantation was cast into it, it immediately floated in mid-air, emitting a circle of grayish-white light.

Within the glow, a Nascent Soul, pure white like jade, slowly materialized. Its eyes were tightly shut, clearly unconscious.

“Heh heh. . . ”

Fang Xi made a grabbing motion with his right hand, and streaks of Grand Unity Azure Wood Divine Light flew out, transforming into emerald-green fine needles that burrowed into the Nascent Soul’s body.

“Ah! ”

The next moment, Xiaoyao Gong’s Nascent Soul screamed, opening its eyes to gaze at Fang Xi with profound malice. “You. . . what do you want to do? ”

“What do I want to do? ”

Fang Xi gave a mysterious smile, his aura suddenly shifting!

Terrifying and dense demonic qi emerged from his body, faintly coalescing into an illusory demonic armor.

“A late-stage Nascent Soul ancient demon? ! ”

Xiaoyao Gong blurted out, “The true Dragon Fish Island Master is likely already dead. . . You, disguised as a human cultivator, what exactly is your. . . ? ”

Fang Xi couldn’t be bothered to say more to him, extending a hand to lightly tap.

A demonic light landed on Xiaoyao Gong, causing his eyes to glaze over.

Immediately, he activated the Soul-Searching Secret Art from the ‘Myriad Manifestations True Demon Arts’, and streams of invisible Heavenly Demon Secret Consciousness surged forth, burrowing into the Nascent Soul’s True Yang Core.

Faced with the ancient demon race’s secret art, the Nascent Soul’s inherent protection was rendered completely ineffective, and Fang Xi directly searched its soul!

Xiaoyao Gong screamed, his small eyes beginning to roll back.

Fang Xi’s own eyes, meanwhile, were pure black, as he witnessed a vast torrent of memories. . . It was Xiaoyao Gong’s entire life, flashing before him like a fast-forwarded film.

Suddenly, his expression stirred. “So, Baiyunsou and Diaoaolaoren are dead. . . and killed by Xiaoyao Gong? That fellow Baiyunsou. . . if he wasn’t confident, why did he go seeking revenge? ”

A moment later, Fang Xi released Xiaoyao Gong’s Nascent Soul.

However, the opponent’s Nascent Soul was utterly withered, its spiritual consciousness possibly even in disarray.

This was also the after-effect of having its soul forcibly searched.

“This person is completely crippled. . . ”

He cast a magic incantation into the Soul Suppressing Pagoda, retrieving the Nascent Soul, intending to feed it to the Divine Infant Sword in the future.

Although the ‘Myriad Manifestations True Demon Arts’ contained secret techniques to directly devour cultivators’ Nascent Souls to boost one’s power, Fang Xi was disinclined to follow that path.

After all, he merely cultivated demonic arts; he hadn’t truly transformed into a demon.

At this moment, recalling Xiaoyao Gong’s previous schemes with Tian Xingzi, a cold sneer involuntarily appeared on Fang Xi’s face. “Tian Xingzi. . . so it turns out that when the orthodox path plays at schemes and intrigues, they are even harder to guard against? ”

When Tian Xingzi and Xiaoyao Gong discussed him earlier, they indeed revealed quite a lot, stirring a strong killing intent in Fang Xi’s heart.

“When it comes to schemes and intrigues, I, a mere junior, can’t outplay you old ghosts. But if a problem can’t be solved, I can solve the one who raised the problem! ”

After the cold sneer, Fang Xi extended his hand and grabbed a white storage bracelet.

It was precisely Xiaoyao Gong’s storage artifact.

After a thorough search, he found many fourth-rank demon beast materials within it, including turtle shells, turtle tendons, demon souls, vital blood, and more. . .

“It seems Gui Shan needn’t bleed. . . This ‘Golden Flood Dragon Tortoise’ has all its vital blood here. With a little refining, it can be used to cultivate the ‘Myriad Demon Armor’. . . ”

“And the Myriad Phenomena Plate. . . it’s also a decent domain treasure. My Second Primordial Spirit was quite covetous of it back then. . . ”

Finally, at the bottom of the storage bracelet, Fang Xi found a Ten-Thousand-Year Sky Jade Bottle.

A green light flashed in his hand, and as he opened the stopper, he smelled a refreshing herbal fragrance wafting out.

Within a ball of green spiritual mist, the ethereal image of a small green-haired turtle swam leisurely, then suddenly transformed into a greenish pill.

“A Longevity Spirit Pill—Turtle Longevity! ”

Through Xiaoyao Gong’s memories, Fang Xi learned that this was a fourth-rank pill formula the man had obtained, and to refine this pill, he had practically invested most of his life’s savings.

“Even Nascent Soul cultivators benefit from the Turtle Longevity Pill, as it can increase lifespan by a hundred years. . . Unfortunately, only one pill can be consumed; taking more has no effect. ”

Fang Xi naturally had no use for a mere century of lifespan, but there were countless old monsters among cultivators nearing the end of their lifespans. In the future, this would be an excellent item for trade.

He therefore carefully put away the Turtle Longevity Spirit Pill, then swept his divine consciousness outwards, observing the moonlit night outside, lost in thought.

...

That night.

Tian Du Mojun was cultivating in the Seven Treasures Flying Ship when a sudden feeling of dread and alarm swept over him, causing his entire body to shudder with a chill.

“Not good! ”

He transformed into a streak of black demonic light and landed on the deck of the Seven Treasures Flying Ship. He saw that the orthodox path’s side was in chaos, with several Heavenly Phoenixes faintly soaring!

Those Heavenly Phoenixes came and went swiftly. . . in just a few blinks of an eye, they transformed into five-colored escape lights and departed, leaving the numerous startled Nascent Soul old monsters exchanging bewildered glances.

Not long after, Su Xuelong from the Lishang Demon Palace returned, his face still etched with lingering fear. “Grand Elder. . . just now, the orthodox camp was ambushed by the Heavenly Phoenix Clan. Grand Elder Tian Xingzi fought fiercely with a late-stage shapeshifting demon, but was slain in less than three moves. . . not even his Nascent Soul managed to escape. . . ”

Such terrifying strength! If they had ambushed the Seven Treasures Flying Ship, their Lishang Demon Palace would likely have met the same fate!

“Are you certain it was the demon race? ”

Tian Du Mojun felt a bitter taste in his mouth for some reason.

“It was definitely the demon race. There were even two fourth-rank superior-grade Heavenly Phoenixes among them. . . ”

Su Xuelong replied decisively, “It is said that at the time, many of the orthodox Nascent Soul old monsters were so terrified they became like cowering turtles, and no one dared to lend Tian Xingzi a hand. . . ”

“Tian Xingzi and I engaged in open and covert struggles for many years. I never expected him to meet such an end. ”

Tian Du Mojun sighed.

...

The next day.

Emerald Island, Evergreen Hall.

“Alas. . . the alliance has suffered the painful loss of a great general! ”

Fang Xi held a gift list in his hand and said to the arriving Tian Du Mojun.

Those Nascent Soul old monsters were quite sensible. After losing Tian Xingzi’s protection, many directly presented gift lists, hoping that he, this ‘Grand Alliance Leader of Orthodox and Demonic Paths’, would be magnanimous.

Tian Du Mojun glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw that even the Fire Refining Sect had brought out their heritage spiritual treasure, the ‘Eight Trigrams Li Fire Furnace’, which Fang Xi had also marked with a circle. He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

However, his Dao heart was ultimately firm, and he inquired, “Now that the demon race army is imminent, how should we respond? ”

“Resisting the demon race is the responsibility of every cultivator of our generation. ”

Fang Xi replied with righteous solemnity, “I have already reviewed the formation diagram for the ‘Positive and Negative Two Poles Sumeru Nine Palaces Grand Array’ that you presented. This array is excellent, but it can still be improved. . . I plan to lay out a super grand array, using Emerald Island, Dragon Fish Island, Maple Leaf Island, Golden Turtle Island, and Spirit Sky Island as its array cores. I will personally command both the orthodox and demonic paths to resist the demon race! ”

Tian Du Mojun couldn’t help but look askance.

Was this still the Yun Jizi who would hide whenever he could back then?

“Myriad Islands Lake is, after all, where this Seat rose to power. . . I cannot bear to see it ravaged by the demon race. ”

Fang Xi sighed with emotion.

In reality, he simply wanted to play a grand game, to find enough flesh and blood materials for his Demonic Tree.

After devouring numerous demonic cultivators last time, the Demonic Tree had provided excellent feedback.

This time, Fang Xi naturally set his sights on the demon race.

In any case, if he couldn’t win, he could still flee. His retreat was secure.

‘This great war, the key still lies with the Kyushu World. I alone cannot bear the burden. . . ’