Chapter 63: Going Against the Way

Damn it!

Fang Xu never expected this lanky martial artist to have a body‑protecting inner armor; after taking his punch head‑on, the guy was still alive!

Body‑protecting inner armor is rarer than some low‑grade weapons—one piece equals ten arms—who would think a mere Martial Apprentice Realm seventh‑level martial artist would possess such a rare item?

Boom!

He shoved off the ground, and Fang Xu's body shot forward like a cannonball leaving the barrel!

On his huge fist, gathered inner force caused a faint red glow to appear!

He aimed this punch at the lanky martial artist's head!

He has body‑protecting soft armor, but surely his head isn't protected, right?

The lanky martial artist took Fang Xu's punch; although his soft armor absorbed some of the force, he also suffered internal injuries. Seeing his companion's gruesome death, he lost his will to fight, had no heart to oppose the enemy, and only wanted to flee.

The fist wrapped in a faint red glow struck the lanky martial artist's head squarely, like a great hammer smashing a watermelon!

In an instant, red and white bits flew everywhere, and blood spattered all over Fang Xu!

After losing half his head while running, the lanky martial artist's body staggered forward a few steps from inertia before collapsing with a crash!

Fang Xu approached the corpse, casually removed its clothing, and indeed saw a fine gold‑thread soft armor worn by the man.

Whoosh!

He yanked off the gold‑thread soft armor in one motion, without pause, and Fang Xu immediately ran down the mountain!

Not long after he left, the forest rustled with a soft sound, and then five martial artists, also of the Martial Apprentice Realm, arrived at the place where the two had died.

"That looks like Liu Dequan of Liu Family Fort, a seventh‑level Martial Apprentice adept at wielding a pair of axes," a martial artist exclaimed upon recognizing the bearded fighter's identity.

"A seventh‑level Martial Apprentice killed that fast?!"

"Could there be an advanced martial artist beside Fang Xu?"

The onlookers exchanged glances, and the martial artists who kept arriving also learned the details from their words.

"Damn, I said the Wu family elder would be so generous, putting a bounty of fifty gold on a mere second‑level Martial Apprentice kid—turns out this kid has helpers!"

"Wrong!"

"There are only traces of three people here; besides Liu Dequan and his partner, there's only one!"

To say these martial artists are seasoned hunters, the faint traces left at the scene quickly show that Fang Xu had no helpers.

"Just him?"

"He instant‑killed two seventh‑level Martial Apprentice martial artists?!"

Everyone's faces were filled with disbelief!

"Old Brother Guan, can you tell where that kid went?" In the crowd, a martial artist holding a hard bow turned to the hunter‑clad elderly man, already in his sixties, and asked.

The sixties‑year‑old elder lowered his head, felt the footprints on the ground, glanced at Fang Xu's escape direction, and said: "It should be this way."

The martial artist with the hard bow nodded and said: "Everyone, that kid's strength is a bit strange; I suggest we all chase him together. Whoever kills him gets half the bounty, and the rest is split evenly among those present—how does that sound?"

After exchanging glances, the more than ten martial artists present all nodded and immediately set off in pursuit of Fang Xu's escape direction.

In the forest, Fang Xu sprinted all‑out down the mountain, his attention constantly on the surroundings.

Whoosh!

A sharp arrow suddenly flew in from the left at high speed, its tip accurately predicting his next position!

Boom!

He had already taken out the wooden staff from his inner gate aperture, swung it to meet the incoming arrow, smashing it away; Fang Xu was about to continue forward when he saw crowds of figures ahead—clearly many martial artists had gathered!

Around Ti Lan Mountain there are many towns; the hunters in those towns regularly go into the mountains to hunt fierce beasts, and a few lucky ones manage to transform from ordinary people into martial artists.

Adding the hunting squads recruited by local landlords and tyrants, no one can say exactly how many martial artists are in the mountains.

These people may have all received the bounty order from Wu Huan, wanting to kill him for the reward.

He paused, then instantly changed direction and kept moving forward!

The chase lasted who knows how long; during it Fang Xu also struck with thunderous force, killing some martial artists he happened to encounter.

As the sky gradually darkened, Fang Xu lay in the dense thicket of a huge tree that three people could encircle, listening to the sounds around him.

At night, with visibility obstructed, those martial artists found it harder to track him via faint traces, giving him a brief respite.

Yet Fang Xu dared not let his guard down.

His whereabouts have been leaked, so the martial artists encircling him will only increase.

He must seize the time to recover; perhaps there will be a fierce battle tomorrow!

Carefully removing his outer garments, Fang Xu donned the gold‑thread soft armor taken from the lanky martial artist, sat cross‑legged, and began to seize the time to cultivate.

He had gradually come to fully comprehend the 《Yan Ling True Explanation»; sitting cross‑legged on the giant tree, endless energy from the air was absorbed into his body, refining the power stored in the aperture caches.

It had been a while since he broke through to the second level of the Martial Apprentice Realm, and the chaotic qi in the second aperture cache now amounted to less than one‑third.

Being able to refine the aperture‑cache power so quickly is entirely thanks to the 《Yan Ling True Explanation»; the energy absorbed and transformed through it has higher efficiency when refining the chaotic qi in the aperture caches.

Being in dangerous territory, he dared not devote all his energy to cultivation; part of his awareness always stayed alert to the rustling of wind and grass around him.

Only when the east began to show the pale light of dawn did Fang Xu finally wake from his cultivation, then, taking advantage of the dim early‑morning light, he turned and ran deeper into the forest.

These pursuers are seasoned hunters; after a night's thought, they likely already figured out the routes he might take.

Continuing down the mountain, encirclement and interception are surely inevitable; various traps and formations have probably been laid, just waiting for him to wander into them.

For now, the only plan is to go against the grain and run into the interior of Ti Lan Mountain.

Most of those chasing him are merely Martial Apprentice Realm cultivators; they can be arrogant on the outskirts of Ti Lan Mountain, but once he enters its interior, it's uncertain whether they dare to follow.

After all, a bounty of fifty gold is tempting, but one needs to be alive to spend it.

Weaving through the forest with the aid of faint light, Fang Xu soon reached the side of a river.

The upper reaches of this river are exactly the waterfall where Nan Wu previously dropped him; that place lies within Ti Lan Mountain's interior and is also within the Wu's activity range.

Having come all the way yesterday, Fang Xu could roughly confirm that there were no high‑grade ferocious beasts nearby.

Following the river downstream, the surrounding jungle grew ever more lush, and Fang Xu's tense expression gradually eased a bit.

Behind him, the group of hunters quickly followed his traces to the big tree where he had stayed the night before.

"Guan Lao Ge, where did that kid go?" the crowd urgently asked the old man.

The sixty-year-old old man looked at the faint footprints on the ground, his brows furrowed tightly as he said, "He went back… it seems he headed into the mountains."

Into the mountains?

A martial artist, hearing this, exchanged glances.

"Is that kid looking for death?!"

"Martial Apprentice second level, running into the deep mountains… forget it, I'm not chasing him!"

"I'm not chasing either; you can only earn this money if you have the life to spend it."

"Let's disperse; there's no saying that kid has already ended up in the belly of a ferocious beast."

……

Everything was as Fang Xu had guessed; upon learning that he had actually run into the interior of Ti Lan Shan, most martial artists immediately gave up the idea of continuing the pursuit.

Having long operated within Ti Lan Shan, they all knew just how terrifying the ferocious beasts deep in the mountains were.

For that uncertain fifty‑gold reward, risking one's life is simply not worth it.

Seeking recommendation tickets, seeking monthly tickets, seeking follows, thanks for your hard work, everyone!

(End of chapter)