Chapter 61: Chaos in the Mountains, Fang Xu Was Captured!

After these ferocious beasts appeared, they surprisingly did not attack each other, all fixed their vicious gazes on Fang Xu and the others!

"Young Master, this is the witch's method!" Xu Liang said with a somewhat solemn expression.

The witch's methods are very strange; among them is a technique that can control ferocious beasts, called Beast Control Technique.

These ferocious beasts are not of the same species; upon meeting they should have fought each other, but under the mysterious Beast Control Technique they actually coexist peacefully and present a united front, showing how miraculous the technique is.

Clang!

Li Xun suddenly drew two weapons from behind his back that were neither sword nor blade, looking like daggers!

Once drawn, these weapons emitted a faint eerie glow, clearly not ordinary items!

Fang Xu also wanted to summon the wooden staff from his aperture space to meet the enemy, but he had nothing in his hands; suddenly producing a staff would likely make Li Xun think of slicing him up for research.

Fighting barehanded is fine; besides, everyone present is a master, I just need to stay out of the fight and observe—if I can avoid acting, I will.

Having made up his mind, he immediately stepped back slightly and hid behind Xu Liang.

Roar!

Suddenly a strange howl came from behind the beast herd; upon hearing it, the beasts around everyone pounced at once!

Of the over a hundred ferocious beasts, about half were high‑grade beasts whose strength matched that of a Warrior Master cultivator; the rest were slightly weaker, roughly equal to a Martial Apprentice at the perfected level.

"Sir, I'll take that entry‑level Sword Tiger!"

Li Xun flashed forward and charged straight at the fierce tiger with bone spurs on its back!

Entry‑level? Sword Tiger?

Hearing Li Xun's words, Fang Xu blinked slightly; before becoming Lu Zhiyuan's disciple, he had no other master and had never been taught anything about ferocious beasts.

He had thought ferocious beasts were only divided into ordinary, high‑grade, and demonic beasts.

It turned out these ferocious beasts not only have specific strength classifications but also names; it seems I will need to find time to learn more about them.

While thinking this, his gaze fell on Li Xun.

This Li Xun is probably about the same age as me, but perhaps because of his monstrous talent and the best resources since childhood, he has now reached the peak of Warrior Master strength.

By contrast, I am merely a novice at the second level of the Martial Apprentice Realm.

Under Fang Xu's gaze, Li Xun wielded his twin blades like a ghost, rushed to the Sword Tiger, leapt high, and struck its back with two blows!

The black blades sank in hilt‑deep, obviously extremely sharp!

After landing a hit, Li Xun pushed off with his foot; his petite frame darted like an agile monkey, circling the beast's huge body, occasionally flashing a black streak that drew lines of blood, making the Sword Tiger howl in pain.

This guy is like an assassin!

Watching Li Xun's fighting style, Fang Xu stroked his chin and sighed.

Li Xun's speed is great; without full concentration, Fang Xu could only see a series of afterimages.

Though the Sword Tiger looked ferocious, it was quickly slain by Li Xun, a Warrior Master peak cultivator famed for speed.

After slaying the Sword Tiger, Li Xun did not pause but charged straight at the next ferocious beast.

"Truly fierce..." Fang Xu couldn't help muttering, then stepped back again to avoid being hurt by the melee.

But just after retreating a few steps, he suddenly smelled a faint corpse stench coming from behind!

Fang Xu startled, turned sharply, and was instantly grabbed by a pair of slender hands around his neck, then dragged deep into the forest!

"Young Master..."

Fang Xu shouted with all his strength; not far away, Li Xun, who had just slain a ferocious beast, heard the commotion and his expression twitched slightly.

Having already found the witch's hideout, Fang Xu seemed useless to him.

But the one who abducted Fang Xu is surely a witch; in Li Xun's view, his coming to Maple Forest Town was meant to exterminate the witches lurking here.

"Sir, I'll go and come back right away!"

One part fears the witch might escape; another part wonders why the witch didn't kill Fang Xu but only captured him.

After a few flashes, Li Xun rushed straight toward the direction where Fang Xu was taken!

Boom!

Having just chased a short distance, a huge figure leapt down from a nearby ancient tree and blocked his path.

Li Xun leapt back a few times to dodge, then stared at the figure before him—nearly a zhang tall, wrapped in a tattered cloak—and frowned.

"Refined corpse?"

"Looking at the sheen, it's a bronze‑armored corpse."

Corpse refining is also one of the witch's methods; they use secret arts to treat dead bodies with various materials, giving the corpse a simple consciousness while making it impervious to blades and spears.

Low‑grade refined corpses are called iron‑armored corpses; ordinary Martial Apprentice cultivators find it hard to injure them in the slightest.

The refined corpse before Li Xun, tall and large, is one rank above an iron‑armored corpse—a bronze‑armored corpse.

If Wang Erhu were still alive, seeing this bronze‑armored corpse he would realize it is the monster that attacked them that night!

"This Young Master has no time to play with you!"

Compared to iron‑armored corpses, bronze‑armored corpses are harder to deal with; ordinary Warrior Masters can't handle them, ordinary blades can't wound them, they fear neither death nor pain, and only by blowing them apart can they be killed.

He cultivates assassination arts, which are unsuitable for entangling with such things.

With a flash, Li Xun prepared to dodge the bronze‑armored corpse's interception and continue pursuing the one who abducted Fang Xu.

Yet this bronze‑armored corpse is strange—it lacks the usual stiffness of refined corpses, and its speed quickly blocked Li Xun!

Seeing this, Li Xun furrowed his brows, then looked at the bronze‑armored corpse before him with a somewhat solemn expression.

"You're not a refined corpse!!"

The corpse remained silent for a long time; the head hidden under the tattered cloak slowly lifted, revealing a strange bronze mask.

"I heard you are a disciple of Zhao Wuji..."

"The eight‑million‑four‑thousand royalty of the Dusk Cloud Kingdom, along with the blood feud of millions of their people, will first be exacted from you."

"Who exactly are you, Your Excellency?" Li Xun's face fell.

He faintly realized that everything today was a scheme, a scheme specifically set against him.

This... for now, let's just call him a person.

This person, with a living body, endured the torment of refining a corpse, forging his own flesh into a copper-armored corpse; the suffering he underwent is unimaginable.

"Are you guys specifically luring this heir apparent here?" Li Xun asked again.

He now must stall for time, waiting for Xu Liang and the Gold Scale Guard to deal with those ferocious beasts and come help; otherwise, relying solely on himself, there's no way to deal with this weird person.

"Such a precious artifact as the Lanwu Vessel—how could we possibly discard it casually?" The copper-armored corpse monster seemed not in a hurry either, actually enduring to chat idly with Li Xun.

Upon hearing this, Li Xun's expression turned somewhat unsightly.

The fact that he became a disciple of Zhao Wují is known to only a very few people throughout the Central Province.

Now, the witches hidden in Tilan Mountain have received this news; clearly, a traitor has appeared in the Central Province.

Of course, this news could also have been leaked by people from the Eldest Prince's side, the aim being to use the witches' hands to eliminate himself.

Li Xun thought, and his gaze involuntarily turned toward his rear.

"No need to wait; they can't get free." The copper-armored corpse seemed to know what he was waiting for, its low voice tinged with mockery: "Ten years have passed since I became like this, and I still haven't spoken until now."

"I originally planned to give Zhao Wují a surprise later, but now... you go first and try it on that butcher!"

As soon as the words fell, the huge figure leapt high, its two arms transformed into bone blades swiftly slashing at Li Xun's body!

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(End of chapter)