Chapter 637: Goodbye

It seems I'll need to plan more carefully and acquire a few more Zhou Golden Figures…

Fang Xing knew that only he could capture Zhou Golden Figures—something the Killing Sect could never replicate.

The most crucial point was that he himself was a god, capable of suppressing and sealing the Golden Figures.

Otherwise, even if he seized a storage treasure, the Zhou Golden Figure would simply leap out and strike him down, bringing disaster.

Moreover, by combining his martial will with his true spirit's attack, he had directly annihilated the soul of the Si Xiang Monitor, leaving no chance for the Golden Figure to activate.

As Fang Xing pondered, the Si Ma Monitor was already charging through the paper soldier army.

Clang! Clang!

His flying sword clashed repeatedly with the paper soldiers, emitting sounds like metal striking metal.

Though the Si Ma Monitor's flying sword was sharp enough to cut through iron, after slashing against paper knives and paper swords, tiny notches the size of rice grains appeared on its blade.

Sparse cuts bled on the Si Ma Monitor's body; his expression was utterly desperate: "You… who are you?"

"What a pity. It seems you don't have a Zhou Golden Figure…"

Fang Xing sighed, closed his five fingers into a fist.

Boom!

Spiritual light exploded continuously across the Si Ma Monitor's body; his frame was struck as if by a thousand-li steed galloping head-on, hurling him backward.

Thud!

A corpse landed on the ground, quickly snatched up by a paper figure, ready to dig a grave and bury it.

Might as well scatter some paper money too…

Inside the Paper House Dimension, chaos reigned; outside, not a sound was heard.

Moments later.

Fang Xing appeared on the street, waved his hand to retract the Spirit Illusion Paper House Dimension, and gazed thoughtfully at a point in the sky.

"Traps are always interlinked; the more intricate the plan, the more likely it is to fail…"

"Now that I've ambushed and slain both the Si Ma and Si Xiang Monitors, lost a Zhou Golden Figure in the process—no matter how perfect the trap, it's useless now, isn't it?"

As Fang Xing looked up, a great battle erupted high in the sky.

The Si Ming Monitor and the Si Tian Monitor both wore purple robes, appearing ancient and frail.

But astonishing spiritual light erupted from them; upon closer inspection, it was clear they were no longer ordinary mortals—they had condensed divinity and ignited divine flames, becoming demigods.

They were only one step away from true godhood: elevating their divine realms to ascend.

Of course, for many demigods, this step was impossible in a lifetime.

Suddenly!

Above the heavens, even the gentle breeze seemed to halt.

—Time stopped!

The next instant, the frozen colors resumed flowing.

The Killing Sect Master, their opponent, had his body torn open—a gaping hole appeared in his chest, revealing a tiny speck of golden divine flame, no larger than a soybean.

The Killing Sect Master was tall and thin; beneath his black robe, his torso was horrifying—not only scarred all over, but also grotesquely deformed.

The Corpse Liberation Immortal ritual was inherently an extremely dangerous demigod rite, requiring passage through death and rebirth.

Even if the ritual ultimately succeeded, any slight error or delay could cause the corpse to rot over time…

Hence, this Killing Sect Master always concealed himself beneath his black robe, never revealing his true face.

Now, under the spell of time stop, though grievously wounded, he showed no concern.

With a light caress of his palm, the rotting flesh on his chest regenerated swiftly.

This grotesque spectacle sent chills down the spines of both the Si Ming and Si Tian Monitors.

"With both of us working together, we can defeat him—but killing him will be difficult…"

"Where are Si Ma and Si Xiang? Why hasn't the Zhou Golden Figure arrived yet?"

The two demigods exchanged glances, exchanging countless divine thoughts.

Suddenly.

The Killing Sect Master let out a long, chilling laugh; terrifying destructive divine power erupted from him, as if unleashing a storm.

"Worse—Si Ma and Si Xiang must have been ambushed…"

"The Zhou Golden Figure…"

The Si Ming and Si Tian Monitors suddenly received word; their hearts filled with panic.

But after the storm passed, the sky cleared—and the Killing Sect Master was gone…

"This… should we pursue?"

The Si Ming Monitor spoke; with his unique ability, he had a strong chance of intercepting the Killing Sect Master again.

"No need. Our encirclement forces have suffered losses—the ring has been breached. Pursuing further will only cost us more."

The Si Tian Monitor silently gazed at the heavens.

As a demigod loyal to the court, in this moment, he felt a creeping dread: 'Fate… when did it gain uncertainty?!'

…

The Zhou Shenchao's surprise attack against the Killing Sect, after Fang Xing's interference, immediately became a half-hearted affair.

After this, the Killing Sect retreated deeper into hiding, while the Zhou Shenchao intensified its wanted notices against them.

Of course, anyone with eyes could see this was merely surface posturing.

In truth, the court had already begun to abandon the pursuit.

On the contrary, the Zhou Shenchao's interest in Fang Xing grew—he still held one Zhou Golden Figure!

Unfortunately, Fang Xing, with his Divine Eye's Sky-Obstructing talent, was even harder to track than the Killing Sect Master.

Days passed.

Intelligence from beyond the realm continued to reach the Zhou Shenchao.

Upon discovering that the Killing Sect, after eliminating the Ten Great Sects of the Outer Realm and unifying it, had begun planting trees, the Imperial Astronomical Monitor was baffled—but slightly relieved.

Still, surveillance over these madmen remained unchanged, fearing they might one day wipe out the entire Outer Realm and turn back to plague the Zhou.

Stars shifted, years flew by.

In an instant, several more years had passed. On this day.

The capital of the Zhou Dynasty.

Dust-covered and weary from traveling across all regions of the Zhou, Fang Xing finally arrived at this foremost land of virtue.

The Zhou imperial palace stood majestic and ancient.

Most striking, of course, were the eleven Zhou Golden Figures encircling the city walls.

Towering into the clouds, they resembled the most loyal guardians of the capital.

Originally twelve, now only eleven remained, one missing.

"Eleven divine proxies… I'd love to steal them all."

Fang Xing rubbed his chin.

At this moment, with slight disguise, he looked like a mountain hunter, awestruck by the Eleven Golden Figures.

!

He then entered the imperial capital of the Zhou Shenchao.

In terms of prosperity, the imperial capital was the most commercially vibrant place Fang Xing had ever seen.

The capital had twelve gates, thirty-seven bridges, and forty-eight market districts, with countless people flowing daily.

He had little interest in any of it.

Following his sense, he arrived at a slum district.

Here, people suffered from poverty, cold, hunger, and disease.

Some might say that even if the body suffers, the soul remains noble.

But Fang Xing knew cultivation required both body and soul—when the flesh carrying the soul weakens, how strong can the soul be?

Thus, the souls here were worthless even to gods, destined for hell.

At a street corner, a makeshift tent had been erected.

A young man dressed as a temple warrior was handing out steamed buns: "Remember—clean the ground in front of your door each day, and you can come for a bun…"

Fang Xing watched the young temple warrior and suddenly smiled.

He sensed the fallen holy power within him—he knew this was no temple warrior, but a 'Avenger'!

Avengers were an advanced class devoted to revenge against gods; their fallen holy power could conceal their aura and disguise them as clergy, even granting special advantage against temple priests and shrine keepers.

Fang Xing watched the young Avenger with a smile as he distributed buns; after finishing, the young Avenger glanced at Fang Xing, then unconsciously slipped into a secluded alley.

When Fang Xing followed him inside…

Shhh!

A flash of cold light—a heavy sword slammed toward him.

Fang Xing's palm produced a wooden stick, lightly tapping the sword's blade.

The stick, arriving later but striking first, avoided the blade's edge and struck precisely on the spine.

The young Avenger cried out; the heavy sword nearly flew from his grip: "Who are you?!"

"Relax—I'm not your enemy…"

Fang Xing smiled: "I'm a friend of Lu Zhong. How is he now?"

Without doubt, Lu Zhong was now the leader of the Avenger group.

"Are you looking for my teacher?"

The young avenger's face held a hint of suspicion, and more than a little wariness: "He's not here—he's preparing to travel through the southern swamps…"

"I see."

Fang Xing nodded and turned to leave.

'Though that young avenger concealed it well, he's still too young…'

'An explanation is always a cover-up—has Lu Zhong infiltrated the Imperial Capital and is preparing to stir up a major incident?'

Fang Xing pondered this, then casually checked into a roadside inn.

Nightfall.

He was seated cross-legged on the bed, cultivating, when suddenly he heard a faint sound.

'Is this… the Avenger group?'

In his perception, he saw several shadows lurking within the darkness.

They moved with practiced ease, avoiding patrols of night guards and watchmen, drawing closer to the inn, radiating a faint aura of killing intent.

'Did the young man report back, and now his experienced seniors have come to eliminate me?'

'Tsk tsk… just what is Lu Zhong planning to do?'

A flash of white light appeared in Fang Xing's hand—Paper Realm.

Rustle-rustle!

Stacks of white paper, as if stirred by wind, swiftly adhered to all four walls.

In an instant, layer upon layer of barriers formed.

At this point, his room no longer existed in the real world—it now lay within the fissure between the mortal realm and the spirit-phantom realm.

Soon, avengers arrived surrounding Fang Xing's room, ready to break down the door.

Fang Xing sensed the young man from earlier was among them.

"Stop!"

At this critical moment, a weary voice rang out.

"Teacher?"

The young avenger turned in surprise and saw Lu Zhong arrive, clad in black robes.

Compared to before, Lu Zhong had grown even older; his scars had become more grotesque, yet his eyes burned bright, as if flames smoldered at their core.

"All of you, withdraw. This one is not an enemy."

Lu Zhong waved his hand, ordering the other avengers to stand down, then stepped alone through the doorway.

"Hmm?"

Fang Xing studied Lu Zhong, sensing that his life force had dwindled to the flicker of a candle in the wind—highly abnormal for one who had only recently ascended to Yang Shen!

(End of Chapter)