Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Sudden Appearance of the Demon Disaster (Seeking Recommendations)_1 Chapter 20: Chapter 20: Sudden Appearance of the Demon Disaster (Seeking Recommendations)_1 Dawn.
The gorgeous morning light slowly spilled from the east, as if coating the entire Black Stone City in a layer of gold.
Fang Xi returned to his residence and changed into a set of clothes.
“Red Snake was no match, but the information he revealed before his death is worthy of attention…”
Last night, with the help of the Power of Talisman, he had effortlessly annihilated the upper echelon of the Red Snake Martial Arts School, while the outer disciples remained clueless.
Furthermore, he used Red Snake to complete an experiment of his own.
‘Real strength warriors are still at a big disadvantage against inferior magic weapons… Their bones are slightly harder than those of ordinary people, but as long as you avoid a few hard bones and target their vital points, it’s easy to achieve victory with less!’
Thinking back to Red Snake’s shocked expression when he saw the Flying Sword Skills last night, Fang Xi still found it very amusing.
…
After breakfast, Fang Xi went to the White Cloud Martial Arts School.
“Junior brother, you’ve finally come.”
Mu Piaomiao, at the entrance of the school, lit up when she saw Fang Xi, grabbed his hand, and hurried him to the inner court.
“Sister, what’s the matter?”
Fang Xi, feeling the astonished gazes of the surrounding disciples, discreetly withdrew his hand from Mu Piaomiao’s.
“A good friend of father’s has arrived, Uncle Hao is also a Principal of a Martial Arts School…”
Mu Piaomiao quickly briefed him in a few words.
‘Ah, so it’s a guest of Mu Canglong, and they want me to be there for support?’
Fang Xi roughly understood and did not refuse, following Mu Piaomiao into the living room.
“Haha, this must be the young niece? She’s becoming more and more spirited.”
In the great hall, Mu Canglong and a red-faced, sturdy man were seated according to their status as host and guest.
The red-faced man’s eyes brightened when he saw Mu Piaomiao and instructed a youth in a red robe beside him, “Haven’t you gone to greet her yet?”
“I am Hao Lan, I pay my respects to Miss Mu.”
The youth who was probably the nephew of the school principal Hao, approached with a warm smile.
“This nephew of mine has an undeniable talent. He is only nineteen but has already reached the Three Transformations of Qi and Blood…”
Principal Hao laughed heartily.
“Haha… My unworthy daughter only broke through to the Three Transformations of Qi and Blood at the age of twenty,” Mu Canglong nonchalantly sipped his tea and then pointed to Fang Xi, “But this disciple here is not bad, seventeen, and also at the Three Transformations of Qi and Blood.”
“What?”
Hao Lan’s face suddenly became animated, as if he had been dealt a blow.
“Haha… I still have important matters to discuss with Old Brother Mu…” Although Principal Hao was slightly shocked at first, he quickly recovered.
“Hmm, Piaomiao, Fang Xi, take Hao Lan out for a turn, young people should get to know each other more,” Mu Canglong’s expression also turned serious.
Fang Xi and Mu Piaomiao each performed a courtesy and walked out of the living room.
Just as they were leaving, Fang Xi’s ears twitched, catching Principal Hao’s worried voice: “…Old Brother Mu, the previous monster hunt seems to have something fishy about it!”
…
‘What major problem occurred during the previous monster hunt?’
As Fang Xi pondered this, Hao Lan, noticing that Mu Piaomiao occasionally looked over at his junior brother, suddenly felt the impulse of a young man, “This junior brother has actually broken through to the Three Transformations of Qi and Blood at seventeen, I admire that. How about… we spar a bit, what do you say?”
“That’s… not necessary, right?”
Fang Xi declined.
At his current level as a Martial Arts School Principal, a normal warrior at the Three Transformations of Qi and Blood was like child’s play to him.
“What’s the matter? In front of Miss Mu, is Junior Brother Fang… afraid of losing?” Hao Lan gave a small laugh.
He thought provoking a young man would surely get a reaction.
Unexpectedly, Fang Xi just silently rolled his eyes, too lazy to compete with children, “Well… then I concede. Brother Hao is superior, I am not even close!”
“Hmm?”
Hao Lan’s eyes widened, as if seeing Fang Xi in a new light.
After a while, he finally managed to say, “I’ve never met someone like Brother Fang…”
…
“Old Brother Mu, please take today’s matter to heart,” Principal Hao insisted.
At the main entrance of the White Cloud Martial Arts School.
Principal Hao, with his nephew, bid farewell to Mu Canglong.
Mu Piaomiao and Fang Xi stood in the crowd to see them off.
“Why did you concede so readily earlier?” Mu Piaomiao leaned close to Fang Xi and quietly asked.
“Why fight a meaningless fight?” Fang Xi countered in a low voice, his eyelids drooping.
Rather than compete with a child, it’s better to consider the bizarre atmosphere that has recently taken over Black Stone City.
It seems… ever since the last monster hunt, something significant has happened.
While Fang Xi was lost in thought, suddenly, from not far away, a cry of alarm was heard:
“Murder!!!”
The voice was shrill, almost splitting the heavens.
“Hmm?”
Fang Xi frowned and followed the Martial Arts School crowd to the source of the sound.
After turning a street corner, they saw a crowd of people frantically running away from a few… strange people?
“What are… these things?”
With his sharp vision, Fang Xi saw the true appearance of these strange people—gaunt faces with woody whisker-like filaments poking out from their orifices.
At that moment, one of the strange people casually grabbed a passer-by, and roots began piercing into the person’s body.
“Ah!”
The unfortunate passerby screamed as his body rapidly shrank and his eyes gradually became lifeless…
“It feels… very much like some sort of puppet?”
As an Immortal Cultivator, Fang Xi’s knowledge was indeed vast.
Upon seeing this scene, his pupils shrank sharply, and he muttered somewhat speechlessly, “I was mistaken… I used to be so naive, thinking this was a low-level martial world…”
“Save… Save me!”
“Wuu wuu… Mother…”
Freakishness and fear seemed contagious, spreading rapidly among the crowd.
A large number of people panicked and fled aimlessly; a child fell by the roadside, weeping bitterly.
“Get up quickly.”
Hao Lan grabbed the child and quickly retreated toward the direction of the martial artists from the school.
“Brother Mu!” Principal Hao roared out loud, his fists smashing down at one of the freakish beings like rolling stones.
Thud!
Where True Power passed, that freakish being was beaten until its spine broke and its body half-collapsed.
“Brother Hao, get out of the way quickly!”
Mu Canglong, however, twitched at the corner of his eye and shouted in alarm.
“Ah!”
Principal Hao let out a cry of pain and looked at his own palms only to see several blood holes had appeared on them out of nowhere.
“They must be major demons, or even possibly…”
Mu Canglong’s expression became extremely solemn as he bellowed, “Disciples of White Cloud Martial Arts School, heed my command! Fall back to the school immediately and defend from the walls!”
“Yes, sir!”
Mu Piaomiao glanced at her father and led the disciples back to the martial arts school.
Fang Xi looked up and saw Mu Canglong holding a fine steel rod, fighting fiercely against a monster.
He watched a knocked-over shelf on the street curb; a spinning top rolled on the ground a few times before stopping at his feet.
This seemingly thriving golden age was like a soap bubble, bursting upon touch…
The speed was so fast, it indeed gave one a sense of dreaming.
“Quick, let’s go!”
Hao Lan didn’t quite know why, but seeing that child pitiful, he picked it up and saved it instinctively.
And by the time he came back to his senses, several monstrous beings had already surrounded them.
This time’s monsters were different from the previous ones, with no tendrils peeking out from their orifices, but their bodies were marked with eerie black tattoos, wriggling like tadpoles, covering most of their cheeks like ferocious masks.
“Watch my family’s… Rolling Stone Fist!”
He took a deep breath, and the powerful strength of the Three Transformations of Qi and Blood struck out like a raging wave.
Bang bang bang!
Crack!
Hao Lan screamed in pain, feeling that the bones in his right hand were all broken.
Seeing a tattooed monster pounce towards him, he couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh before closing his eyes.
Boom!
The next moment, a loud noise erupted.
“What are you waiting for, hurry up and go!”
Fang Xi kicked a monster flying and with a short green sword in his hand, which appeared out of nowhere, he slashed at another monster leaping towards him.
Dark red blood splattered, staining the blade of the sword.
‘Got some blood, can research it later, or maybe take it to the Cultivation World for someone to look at…’
Fang Xi’s main objective was to obtain a sample; as for Hao Lan?
It was just that he felt slightly favorable towards him for saving the child earlier, so he lent a hand without much thought.
As an Immortal Cultivator, one should act as one pleases, doing what one desires.
“So… so powerful!”
Hao Lan was almost dumbstruck on the spot.
Having just engaged them, he knew all too well how tough those monsters were.
His own hand broke after just a few strikes, but Fang Xi seemed to handle them with extreme ease.
Thinking back on how Fang Xi had casually admitted defeat earlier, Hao Lan’s cheeks turned as red as a monkey’s rear, burning with shame: “I was so foolish, truly…”
…
Time rewinds slightly.
Black Stone City, located in the Great Liang officialdom.
In the backyard of the government compound.
Monster beasts appeared one after another; the Two-headed Demon Wolf from before, and even several missing Martial Arts School Principals were among them.
The ground was covered in blood, and no living person could be seen around.
Beasts and martial artists parasitized by them gathered together and let out mournful howls before their flesh and blood exploded.
Amidst the splattering blood and flesh, tendrils like vines emerged, intertwining and growing long roots, planting themselves into the ground.
Soon, a bizarre, pitch-black tree grew from the blood and flesh.
Numerous roots sprouted from white bones and skulls, supporting the trunk of the pitch-black tree, with lines resembling blood vessels emerging on the bark. Within the enormous black canopy, it seemed as though faces were faintly discernible.
Black Qi Roots fell from the sky and implanted themselves into the bodies of the strange beings that had appeared nearby.
Life and death, evil and beauty…
Things harmonious and disharmonious, symmetrical and asymmetrical, all could be found on this bizarre life form!
After this strange black blooded tree emerged, its vast canopy spread wantonly around it, a thin mist appeared, becoming denser and denser…
“Damn it, it’s a ‘Demon’!”
Not far off, the experts from the Yuanhe Mountain branch were all present, led by Linghu Yang!
Linghu Yang looked at this scene and clenched his teeth in hatred: “The frequent migration of monster beasts near Black Stone City is because a ‘Demon’ has been born! Now this demon lord has chosen to take root in the center of Black Stone City… Black Stone City… is doomed!”