A wisp of flame flickered at his fingertip, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

"Fang Shuwen... you’d best not disappoint me..."

He turned around, but the bleak moonlight failed to illuminate his face.

Only the Qilin Sword Blade of the sword in his hand was exceptionally dazzling under the starlight.

...

...

Fang Shuwen wasn’t in a hurry to question the man in black. After exerting himself for most of the night, he was a bit tired, and more importantly, hungry.

So he first started a fire. Then, relying on his powerful hearing, he quickly found a wild rabbit that had lost its way in the dark, and after catching it, guided it to its bright end.

As the aroma of roasting rabbit began to fill the air, Fang Shuwen finally looked over at the man in black.

"Care to talk?"

"Kill me or cut me up..."

Fang Shuwen sighed. He was getting tired of hearing that sort of line.

But he didn’t stop him, letting the man finish his clichés. After setting the rabbit on the spit, he walked up to the man in black.

He brought his index and middle fingers together, and A Line shot out instantly.

By now, Fang Shuwen was thoroughly practiced in using this method.

The man in black’s shrill screams instantly spread through the forest.

Only when blood started to seep from all seven of his facial orifices did Fang Shuwen withdraw his hand.

He flipped the roasting rabbit over, then took some salt from his small pouch and sprinkled it on.

"Can we have a proper chat now?"

Even though the man in black had a will of iron, his eyes couldn’t help but reveal a trace of fear as he looked at Fang Shuwen. But soon, he started to laugh.

"Fine. What do you want to talk about?"

"What’s your name?"

"..."

The man in black hadn’t expected the first question to be so boring, but he answered truthfully nonetheless.

"Qian Gong."

"What’s your family name?"

"I don’t have one. Our batch... none of us have family names."

"Oh? Where are you from?"

Fang Shuwen continued to question him.

Qian Gong sneered. Already prepared to die, he spoke slowly.

"Undying Island, Dragon Emperor Hall."

The moment he spoke, Qian Gong’s expression stiffened.

The Divine Fire Seal that should have erupted showed no reaction at all!

Fang Shuwen appeared relaxed, but in truth, he was already prepared to use the North Nether Divine Technique to extract the man’s Divine Fire Seal. But in the end, nothing happened.

He couldn’t help but feel a flicker of surprise.

Seizing the moment while Qian Gong was questioning his own existence, he continued to ask.

"Where is your branch in the Eastern Domain Martial World?"

"...We don’t have a branch."

Qian Gong, as if still not giving up on dying, gritted his teeth and said:

"Twelve hundred of us came this time, split into two groups. One part is led by the Young Venerable, plotting for the Seven-String Ancient Chapter."

"The other part... is under the command of the Vermilion Bird Hall Master."

"Oh?"

Fang Shuwen raised an eyebrow.

"Where is the Vermilion Bird Hall Master?"

"The Hall Master is in Cyan Blue Valley..."

As Qian Gong spoke, his face completely drained of color.

"How is this possible?"

Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, his gaze subconsciously darted in all directions.

"Besides the Venerable Lord, only the Young Venerable can undo the Divine Fire Seal..."

"Young Venerable, Young Venerable!"

"Why did you..."

Fang Shuwen’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Where is this Young Venerable of yours now?"

"The Young Venerable, he..."

Before he could finish, his head suddenly began to swell.

Fang Shuwen, with his quick reflexes, slammed a hand onto his head, intending to use the North Nether Divine Technique to absorb whatever mechanism was inside.

However, the Divine Technique yielded nothing; there wasn’t the slightest trace of Inner Strength.

A flash of astonishment crossed Fang Shuwen’s eyes, but since the North Nether Divine Technique was ineffective, he simply kicked out.

He sent Qian Gong flying.

He had flown less than two meters when, with a deafening BANG, his head exploded into pieces.

Fang Shuwen flicked his hand, sending out a wave of Inner Strength to sweep away the scattered blood and gore.

For a moment, his brow was tightly furrowed.

’This Young Venerable... seems to have a rebellious streak.’

Qian Gong’s words had clearly indicated that his Divine Fire Seal had been undone by that Young Venerable.

Although it wasn’t completely undone...

...the act itself was very telling.

’Could he have predicted that I would capture Qian Gong tonight? Did he tamper with him beforehand just so he would leak some information?’

Fang Shuwen returned to the campfire, pondering as he turned the roasting rabbit.

’Was the person secretly spying on me this so-called Young Venerable?

’What is his purpose? Is he planning to use me to eliminate his rivals? Or...’

He shook his head at the thought. In truth, it didn’t matter what the other party wanted to do.

What mattered was that he now had a lead.

The Vermilion Bird Hall Master was currently in Cyan Blue Valley.

And they had amassed a considerable force, likely planning something big.

’If I make a trip to Cyan Blue Valley and capture this Vermilion Bird Hall Master, I might even be able to find the location of Undying Island.’

’Alternatively, I could tell the Vermilion Bird Hall Master what happened to Qian Gong.’

’Let the Vermilion Bird Hall Master and that Young Venerable fight it out like dogs?’

He mulled it over. The idea wasn’t entirely unfeasible; there was a lot of room to maneuver.

’It’s just that this Young Venerable is so secretive and sneaky. It’s frustrating.’

’If he had just given me a heads-up, I could have worked around his little trick and maybe gotten more information.’

’But it seems these people have more than just the Divine Fire Seal as a fail-safe. I wonder what the other method is called?’

Fang Shuwen sighed. Suddenly, he smelled something burning. He looked up and saw that his rabbit was indeed a little charred.

He quickly took it off the fire and tore away the burnt parts.

He sprinkled on some more seasoning... He carried quite a few spices with him. Last time he was deep in the old mountain forests with Zhou Qingmei for so long, they had roasted wild game every night.

At first, eating unseasoned game felt novel, but later it became hard to swallow.

Having learned his lesson, he bought a number of small jars and pots, keeping them in his personal pouch for emergencies.

’Right now, their attention is on the Seven-String Ancient Chapter, and... they’re probably plotting other things too, so they can’t be distracted. I need to take this opportunity to deal with this hidden threat as soon as possible.’

’I have to avoid getting the Four Seas Martial Arts Hall involved...’

’Sigh, I was planning to go back early. After seeing my master, I wanted to head to Guangning City and keep an eye on the Fang Family.’

’But now it seems I’m getting busier and busier. It’s true what they say: once you’re in the Jianghu, you can’t act on your own accord.’

The roasted rabbit was ready. He contentedly ate his meal as the long night finally passed. Seeing the sky brighten in the east, Fang Shuwen stood up, dusted off his pants, and headed toward Flying Snow City. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

He had to find Wu Lingxiao to ask about the location of Cyan Blue Valley. He also needed to buy a couple of new sets of clothes... he was still bare-chested.