Chapter 583: Strike

The Fei family was already facing the problem of a broken Daoji lineage...

If we could gain one more Daoji-level corpse, it would be a rare trump card.

Compared to that, what is one Fei Cai worth? Even if he is the patriarch!

Moreover... there is the great merit of uncovering the Corpse Manipulation Sect's scheme!

Fang Xing watched from afar, yet saw every detail: "The technique the Fei elder ancestor just used doesn't seem like a spell—it's more like a divine ability, or perhaps... a pseudo-divine ability? Is this what they call 'Daoji'?"

As he pondered, the Fei elder ancestor transformed into green light and chased after the White Bone Elder.

In the battlefield, countless white bone skeletons suddenly exploded.

A terrifying shockwave swept across the entire area!

Fang Xing let out a cry of pain and was flung into the swamp by the explosion's residual force...

Beneath the water.

The black snake, lurking to profit from the chaos, suddenly froze—it saw a terrifying "same kind"!

It was ten zhang long, its entire body deep green, resembling a giant serpent, yet with two dragon claws growing from its belly, yet no horns on its head.

It was a Shuǐhuǐ!

Ancient texts say: "A creature with claws but no horns is a huǐ!"

Though still classified as a serpent, the Shuǐhuǐ is an extremely potent variant.

Fang Xing's Wild Transformation into the Shuǐhuǐ was no exception—it felt at least no weaker than the Fei elder ancestor just now.

"Hmm... the Shuǐhuǐ truly lives up to its reputation—in a swamp, it's like a fish in water..."

Fang Xing lay hidden, waiting for an opportunity.

Above the battlefield, the Fei elder ancestor easily caught up to the White Bone Elder; countless green giant trees fell, forming a prison.

"Hand over the Corpse Control Bell... I'll let you keep a whole corpse."

The Fei elder ancestor barked.

"Dream on!"

The White Bone Elder was about to violently shake the Corpse Control Bell when his expression suddenly changed!

Vines of emerald green suddenly sprouted from his eye sockets, nostrils, and mouth...

As if they had always grown within his flesh, they drained his Qi and essence to grow stronger.

Whoosh!

In an instant, a strange vine-like tree appeared in midair, while the White Bone Elder had already shattered into scattered bones and flesh.

"Elder Ancestor's divine might!"

Fei Shentong rejoiced.

The Yin family's Supreme Elder and the Xu family patriarch were stunned, yet filled with bitter regret.

The gap between Daoji and Sensing Qi in this world was truly like heaven and earth!

The Fei elder ancestor gave no further thought—he reached out, seized the Corpse Control Bell in his palm, and green light spread across it.

After losing its master, the Jade Armor Corpse, which had been screaming and clutching its head, now froze.

Beneath the water, Fang Xing coldly observed this scene.

"Just now... when the Fei elder ancestor first clashed with the White Bone Elder, he secretly scattered seeds onto him—that's how this happened..."

"Now he's forcibly refining the Corpse Control Bell, trying to control that Daoji corpse?"

"This is an opportunity... but..."

Fang Xing activated the Shuǐhuǐ's innate ability, merging his body with the swamp, hiding even deeper.

"Ha! My Fei family will gain another Daoji combatant!"

On the ground, Fei Wu, though disheveled from the earlier white bone skeleton explosions, now wore a face full of ecstatic joy.

Not only was the family's foundation strengthened, but more crucially, Fei Cai was dead—there was a high chance the new patriarch would be him.

At that moment, sudden change erupted!

"Ahh!"

The Fei elder ancestor suddenly screamed and flung the "Corpse Control Bell" away.

His palm now bore a patch of pitch-black color.

"A thousand-year corpse poison?"

The Fei elder ancestor stared at his palm, then rapidly retreated backward.

But it was already too late!

The Jade Armor Corpse instantly stopped its screaming, its crimson eyes flickering with mockery as it surged forward—its scaled arm like a spear, thrusting violently!

A sudden betrayal!

The Fei elder ancestor barely managed to summon a green wooden shield before him.

Boom!

The scaled arm pierced through the shield like rotten leather, then slammed against the Fei elder ancestor's chest.

"Old Fei ghost..."

The Jade Armor Corpse's green face, fanged and monstrous, twisted into a eerily human smile.

"So this was a trap... you're not a corpse at all—you're a fragment of Xie Songshan's divine spirit?!"

The Fei elder ancestor spat blood: "But you're still just a corpse—not your true body... otherwise I'd be dead already."

As he spoke, shadows of trees suddenly appeared across the heavens.

Puff! Puff!

Countless wooden thorns erupted, piercing the Jade Armor Corpse's body.

"A fine 'Ten Thousand Trees Bloom'... but after this, how many years do you have left?"

"Xie Songshan" smiled, seemingly unconcerned.

Then!

His corpse body exploded violently.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A terrifying blast erupted; after the shockwave passed, a green toxic cloud spread over an acre of land.

At the edge of the toxic cloud, a flash of green light appeared—it was the Fei elder ancestor.

But his aura was now greatly weakened; he pointed a finger casually.

On the ground, several giant flower buds emerged, blooming to reveal Fei Shentong and Fei Wu inside...

"Elder Ancestor?"

Fei Shentong stared at the Fei elder ancestor, eyes filled with urgent worry.

"Cough... cough..."

The Fei elder ancestor spat out a large gout of emerald poison blood, grimly saying: "Good job, Xie family... good corpse explosion technique... this grudge our Fei family will remember—next time, we'll..."

Whoosh!

Beneath the swamp, countless streams suddenly split apart as a deep green giant serpent shot upward!

A ferocious aura exploded instantly!

"Daoji beast? No!"

The Fei elder ancestor's eyes widened; streams of deep green light formed walls of wood around him. Ssssh!

But the next instant, the giant Shuǐhuǐ's claw slammed down like a tidal wave, tearing through every wooden wall.

It opened its massive maw and spat a cloud of poison mist.

Before the Fei elder ancestor could react, half his body was corroded to nothing.

The giant serpent coiled its body, snatched up the Fei elder ancestor's corpse, and dove back into the water, vanishing...

"Elder Ancestor..."

Fei Wu and Fei Shentong, barely escaped, stared at the scene as if the sky had collapsed: "No!!!"

"No wonder Daoji cultivators are so fat..."

On the other side, Fang Xing ended his Wild Transformation, opened the Flying Rat Sack belonging to the Fei elder ancestor, and began inventorying his loot.

First, a pile of talisman coins—at least thirty thousand.

Every single one was intact!

Also among them were various spirit items and books...

Unfortunately, none of the Daoji spirit items Fang Xing wanted.

"Of course—last time Fei Tianbao tried to break through to Daoji, he probably drained the entire Fei family's reserves..."

Fang Xing silently closed the Flying Rat Sack and tossed it to the nearby black snake: "Hide this well—be careful..."

Watching the black snake depart, he activated his Wild Transformation again, becoming a giant owl, spreading his wings and riding the wind toward the Fei family estate.

"The Fei family used us as cannon fodder—now it's your turn to play the first move, and mine to respond in kind..."

After reaching Level 10 as a Druid, the owl form's power had improved—even still inferior to Daoji, its speed was far faster than a paper kite.

Not long after, Fang Xing spotted the Fei family's grand mansion.

It was already night, but the Fei family estate had clearly become noisy.

I wonder if the news of Fei family's ancestral elder's death has returned.

Fang Xing chuckled, landed on the ground, and instantly transformed into a pangolin.

Wild Transformation—Pangolin Form!

A pangolin with dull scales appeared in place, then flashed with earth-yellow light and vanished.

It seemed as if it had cast Earth Submersion Technique.

'I don't know where the Fei family's treasure is…'

'But I know where the Dragon King Ginseng is…'

'The Fei family has collected so many tributes from Poisonous Dragon Slope—they ought to return them, with interest.'

Fang Xing slowly approached underground, sensed a layer of array aura, and immediately halted.

'The herb garden's defenses are decent, but soon, the Fei family will descend into chaos…'

He waited silently.

After an indeterminate time, the Fei family mansion suddenly erupted into utter turmoil.

'Intruders!'

'Attack!'

'Hurry! Where's the family guard?'

…

Hearing the commotion, Fang Xing underground chuckled and directly pierced through the array barrier.

A shrill alarm blared instantly, but amid the current chaos of the Fei mansion, it was like a drop of water lost in the ocean.

Plop!

In the ginseng garden, a pangolin burst forth, one claw lightly swiping.

The emerald-green Dragon King Ginseng was swept into the Flying Squirrel Sack.

'Most of the Fei family's wealth rests on this single treasure herb…'

Fang Xing had no greed—he was about to leave.

Several cultivators suddenly burst into the herb garden, saw this scene, and their eyes turned red: 'Where did this beast come from? Where's the Dragon King Ginseng?'

Clearly, these Fei family cultivators intended to take advantage of the chaos and steal from within.

Seeing Fang Xing's pangolin form, a late-stage Qi Sensing cultivator immediately drew a talisman; light flashed, and the garden's soil turned the color of refined steel.

Then, a jet-black magical sword shot forward like lightning, stabbing at Fang Xing!

Ssssh!

Fang Xing shifted back to human form, activated his Bark Skin talent, and his skin became wrinkled like tree bark, green branches sprouting across his body—he looked like a tree spirit.

Combined with his Master-level Qi Concealment Technique, he appeared as nothing more than a tree spirit—no one could link him to the herbalist.

His right hand shot out, the bark-covered palm gripping the black magical sword mid-air.

'Thorn Technique!'

A flash of emerald light swept through—the ground erupted with hardened wooden spikes.

The several Fei family cultivators instantly became human hedgehogs, collapsing lifelessly to the ground.

'Couldn't you just let me go?'

Fang Xing muttered, then kept his tree spirit form, strolling through the herb garden to collect the finest medicinal herbs.

He reached the herb garden gate, about to leave, when he suddenly froze.

In his line of sight, the Fei family estate burned everywhere.

A woman dressed as a young matron ran toward the herb garden, clutching an infant.

'Gu Yun?'

'The child she's holding—that's Fei Yong, right?'

Fang Xing's thoughts shifted; several wooden spikes materialized in his hand.

Plop! Plop!

He flung them—the spikes became emerald streaks, passing Gu Yun and striking the pursuers behind her.

The pursuers were instantly skewered like blood-filled gourds, screaming as they died.

'T-tree spirit?!'

Gu Yun's eyes widened, utterly failing to recognize Fang Xing beneath his Bark Skin: 'Does the herb garden have such hidden strength?'

(End of Chapter)