Chapter 63: Doing the Opposite

Chapter 63: Chapter 63: Doing the Opposite

"Damn it!" Fang Xu cursed inwardly.

He hadn’t expected this tall and thin Martial Artist to possess a treasure like Protective Inner Armor. He had actually survived taking a direct punch! Protective Inner Armor was even rarer than some graded weapons; a single piece of armor was easily worth ten fine weapons. Who could have imagined that a mere Seventh Realm Martial Disciple would possess such a rare item?

BAM!

Pushing off the ground with tremendous force, Fang Xu’s body shot forward like a cannonball fired from its barrel! Due to the condensation of Inner Strength, a faint red glow began to emanate from his massive fist.

With this strike, he aimed straight for the tall and thin Martial Artist’s head! "He might have Protective Armor on his body, but surely not on his head!" Fang Xu thought.

Although the Protective Armor had absorbed some of the impact from Fang Xu’s previous punch, the tall and thin Martial Artist had still suffered internal injuries. Coupled with the gruesome death of his companion, he had completely lost his will to fight. He had no desire to engage the enemy; he only wanted to flee.

The fist, enveloped in a faint red glow, accurately struck the tall and thin Martial Artist’s head, like a sledgehammer smashing into a watermelon! Gore and brain matter splattered everywhere, drenching Fang Xu in blood!

Having lost half his head while running, the man’s body stumbled forward a few more steps under its own momentum before collapsing heavily to the ground. Fang Xu chased after the corpse and quickly stripped away the man’s outer clothing. Sure enough, an exquisite piece of Golden Silk Armor was worn underneath.

RIIIIP!

Yanking the Golden Silk Armor off, Fang Xu didn’t linger for a single second and immediately dashed down the mountain.

Not long after he left, rustling sounds echoed through the forest. Soon, five more Martial Artists—also in the Martial Disciple realms—arrived at the spot where the two men had died.

"This looks like Liu Dequan from the Liu Family Castle! He’s a Seventh Realm Martial Disciple who excels at wielding a pair of Hand Axes," one Martial Artist exclaimed, recognizing the bearded man’s identity.

"A Seventh Realm Martial Disciple, killed this quickly!?"

"Could Fang Xu have a high-level Martial Artist protecting him?"

The onlookers exchanged bewildered glances. The other Martial Artists who arrived one after another also learned of what had happened from the group.

"Damn it, I knew the Wu Family Ancestor wouldn’t be so generous! A fifty-gold Bounty Order for a kid at the Second Realm of Martial Disciple? It turns out this brat has helpers!" someone cursed.

"No, that’s not right! There are only traces of three people here. Aside from Liu Dequan and his partner, there’s only one other person!"

These Martial Artists were all experienced Hunters. From the subtle clues left at the scene, they quickly deduced that Fang Xu had no helpers whatsoever.

"Just him? He instantly killed two Seventh Realm Martial Disciples by himself!?"

Everyone’s faces were filled with utter disbelief.

"Mr. Guan, can you tell where that kid went?" asked a Martial Artist holding a stiff bow, looking at a sexagenarian man dressed as a Hunter in the crowd.

The elderly man bent down to touch the footprints on the ground, then looked toward the direction Fang Xu had fled. "It should be this way."

The Martial Artist with the stiff bow nodded. "Everyone, that kid’s strength is a bit strange. I suggest we chase him together. When we encounter him, whoever lands the killing blow takes half the bounty, and the rest of us here will split the remaining half equally. How about it?"

The dozen or so Martial Artists in the clearing exchanged glances and nodded in agreement, immediately giving chase in the direction Fang Xu had gone.

In the forest, Fang Xu sprinted down the mountain with all his might, keeping his attention fully focused on his surroundings.

WHOOSH!

A sharp arrow suddenly shot out from the left, its trajectory perfectly predicting his next movement!

SMASH!

He had already retrieved the wooden stick from his Inner Acupoint. Swinging it directly at the incoming arrow, he smashed the projectile away. Just as Fang Xu was about to continue moving forward, he noticed silhouettes flickering ahead. Clearly, a large number of Martial Artists were closing in on him!

There were many towns surrounding Tilan Mountain. The hunters in these towns ventured into the mountains year-round to hunt fierce beasts, and there were always a lucky few who managed to evolve from ordinary people into Martial Artists. Coupled with the Hunting Teams recruited by the Landlord Strongmen, no one could say exactly how many Martial Artists were currently roaming the mountain.

Perhaps all these people had received Wuhuan’s Bounty Order and wanted to kill him for the reward money. Pausing his steps, Fang Xu abruptly changed directions and pressed on.

The pursuit lasted for an unknown amount of time. Along the way, Fang Xu struck with the force of a thunderbolt, killing several Martial Artists who happened to cross his path.

As the sky gradually darkened, Fang Xu lay hidden in the dense foliage of a massive tree that took three people to encircle, listening intently to the movements around him. At night, visibility was severely impaired, making it much harder for those Martial Artists to track his subtle traces. This finally afforded him a brief moment to catch his breath. However, he didn’t dare lower his guard.

"My whereabouts have already been exposed, meaning the number of Martial Artists hunting me will only increase. I have to hurry up and recover. There might be another fierce battle tomorrow!" he told himself.

Carefully shedding his outer clothes, he slipped on the Golden Silk Armor he had looted from the tall and thin Martial Artist. Fang Xu sat cross-legged and immediately began cultivating, seizing every second.

He had gradually comprehended the Flame Spirit True Understanding thoroughly. Sitting cross-legged in the giant tree, he absorbed a continuous stream of energy from the air into his body, refining the power within his Acupoint Secret Treasure. It had been some time since he broke through to the Second Realm of Martial Disciple, and the Qi of Chaos in his second Acupoint Secret Treasure had less than a third remaining. Being able to refine that power so quickly was entirely thanks to the Flame Spirit True Understanding. The energy absorbed and converted through this technique was highly efficient at refining the Qi of Chaos inside his acupoints.

Being in a dangerous environment, he didn’t dare devote all his energy to cultivation. A part of his consciousness remained on high alert, monitoring the rustling grass and whispering wind around him.

It wasn’t until the eastern sky revealed the pale light of dawn that Fang Xu awoke from his cultivation. Taking advantage of the dim early morning light, he turned and sprinted deeper into the forest.

His pursuers were all experienced Hunters. After a night of deliberation, they had likely already figured out all the possible paths he might take. If he continued down the mountain, he would inevitably face interceptions and blockades. Various traps and Trapping Arrays were probably already set up, just waiting for him to walk right into them. His only viable option now was to do the unexpected and run toward the interior of Tilan Mountain.

The people hunting him were mostly in the Martial Disciple realms. They could afford to be arrogant on the outskirts of Tilan Mountain, but once he entered the inner regions, it was highly doubtful they would have the courage to follow. After all, no matter how tempting a fifty-gold bounty was, one still needed to be alive to spend it.

Weaving through the forest under the faint light, Fang Xu soon arrived at the bank of a river. The upstream of this river led directly to the waterfall where the South Witch had previously dropped him. That area was located deep within Tilan Mountain and was the active territory of a Witch.

From his journey yesterday, Fang Xu could roughly confirm that there were no high-level fierce beasts in the immediate vicinity. As he traveled along the river, the surrounding forest grew increasingly lush, and his tense expression gradually began to relax.

Meanwhile, behind him, the group of Hunters followed his trail and quickly tracked him to the giant tree he had rested in the night before.

"Mr. Guan, where did the kid go?" the crowd gathered around the old man and asked anxiously.

The elderly man stared at a line of shallow footprints on the ground, his brow tightly furrowed. "He went back... It looks like he headed deeper into the mountain."

The group of Martial Artists exchanged dismayed glances, wondering if they had misheard.

"Is that kid looking for death!?"

"A Second Realm Martial Disciple running into the heart of the mountain... Forget it, I’m not chasing him anymore!"

"I’m not chasing him either. You might earn this money, but you won’t live long enough to spend it!"

"Let’s disperse, everyone. For all we know, that kid might already be in the belly of some fierce beast."

Everything unfolded exactly as Fang Xu had predicted. Upon learning that he had actually run toward the inner regions of Tilan Mountain, the vast majority of the Martial Artists immediately abandoned any thoughts of continuing the pursuit. Having operated around Tilan Mountain all year round, they were keenly aware of just how terrifying the fierce beasts dwelling in its depths truly were.

Gambling their lives for an uncertain fifty-gold bounty simply wasn’t worth it.