Plundering the Heavens

“The South Sea’s Guixu Ruins….” Fang Xing lowered his head and pondered with an inscrutable expression.

“Legend has it the South Sea’s Guixu Ruins was once the site of an ancient sect for Dao, the Daoism of Taishang,” the golden crow continued, “The site was once so popular it could even be said they were one of the best in the entire world, but for some unknown reasons, it later violated the heavens and was struck by heaven’s thunder for a total of thirty-three days. Numerous disciples were left dead or wounded, everything they had was reduced to nothing, and this location became a peculiar existence. The remnants of Dao and the broken sky left the heavens in disorder, leading to it being sealed off.

“The place is as well known as other secret places, such as the Jade Lake, Demon Abyss, or Beast Tower. It’s so absurd and mysterious even Budding Soul Stage cultivators are unable to search out the secrets of this place, and in the past tens of thousand of years, the only people who would risk their lives and try their luck inside were those who had absolutely no other choice or who wanted to discover the foundational knowledge concerning the Daoism of Taishang.”

“Not a single person has gotten out?” Fang Xing asked in shock.

The golden crow shook his head. “It’s not absolute, though. I once read in an ancient script that when the nine coffins landed three thousand years ago, the entire fortune of the heavens and earth changed, causing a crack to open within the Guixu Ruins that allowed a few people to escape. It is because of these people we’re able to understand some of what’s going on within, but aside from that, no one has ever come out again. The South Sea’s Guixu Ruins allows people to enter but not leave; this is the consensus of this realm, so you better not have any thoughts of trying to luck it out somehow….”

“That’s not going to work, then. Let’s find another way….” Fang Xing became serious after hearing all of this and he absolutely refused to go to that damned placed now.

While the two of them discussed some other place he might be able to flee to that might muddle the heavens and earth, Fang Xing suddenly sensed some an oncoming crisis, and after using Mystic Eye towards the north, he noticed a faint red shadow coming closer at an extremely great speed. When he recognized what the red shadow actually was, he jumped in terror and quickly called out to the golden crow, “Sh*t, why did that crazy dragon come after me? Quick, run, quick!” He’d seen the insane battle prowess of this crazed dragon, and it was simply terrifying. He’d thought he managed to get away safely, but who would have thought this thing would come chasing? Fang Xing and the golden crow both shouted in surprise and started fleeing towards the south to avoid being swallowed up.

The red dragon was simply too fast, even faster than the dragon girl. The golden crow’s body was extremely sturdy and he’d studied the Peng clan’s secret skill to the point ordinary late-stage Golden Cores would be forced to eat his dust whenever they chased after him, but he was unable to get rid of his pursuer this time around. The crazed dragon flew through the vast skies, so quickly it caused a huge thunderstorm to form behind it.

“My god, what is this crazy dragon chasing us for!” the golden crow mournfully cried. His two wings were flapping so hard a thin layer of golden flame could be seen overtop his feathers.

“Didn’t we already make a turn? How did this wild dog find us?” Fang Xing shouted while hastily rising to his feet and activating the unnamed technique to cover their traces. The smoke surrounded him and the golden crow before long, making them much safer—the crazed dragon stopped and mindlessly searched about as though he’d lost his sense of direction.

The golden crow took the opportunity to fly off at a great speed while Fang Xing shouted, “Good! Seems like that crazy dragon is indeed chasing after us, but he won’t be able to sense us once we cover up our auras!” Regardless, Fang Xing didn’t drop his guard. Using this unnamed skill required a large amount of Qi,.and although he’d managed to use it again, he didn’t have very much and wouldn’t be able to keep it up for very long.

Just as expected, the skill reached its limits after just a hundred miles out. The blue fog vanished and the red dragon started chasing once more.

“Dammit, that wild dog’s tracking us. Goldy, fly faster!” Fang Xing yelled. There wasn’t anything more agonizing than being eyed by this thing.

After being in the cultivation realm for so many years causing who knows how much chaos and havoc and fleeing from however many would-be deaths, Fang Xing most certainly couldn’t be considered a newcomer by now and he quickly started to hatch a plan. Although the crazed dragon seemed confused, he’d clearly locked on to Fang Xing and the golden crow—it wasn’t that the red dragon was chasing after the wrong person, and it might even be possible he was specifically targeting Fang Xing. Regardless, Fang Xing and the golden crow had made a detour, so how did he catch up to them? Was there something else that was drawing him in the entire time?

While Fang Xing was thinking about it, he suddenly remembered the bead. Using the light of the bead, Fang Xing had been able to easily break through all the formations the dragon girl had placed in the Colored Glass Palace, so the bead had to have a very close connection to those of the Dragon Palace. Perhaps it was the aura of this bead that had caused the crazed dragon to chase after them? With this in mind, Fang Xing quickly began to search all over himself, hoping to find the bead as quickly as possible to throw it away and see if it would lure the dragon elsewhere.

Fang Xing searched, but sweat began to form on his forehead—the bead was nowhere to be found. It was only then that he remembered how he’d kept the bead in his mouth in order to fuse with its power to break through the formations. He recalled how the strong dragon girl had abruptly grasped and firmly kissed him, and he’d been so desperate to protect his own purity that he… ended up swallowing the bead?

“I’m done for….”

Fang Xing quickly used his spirit sense to search inside him, but he didn’t find any trace of the bead at all; had it been absorbed? This was beyond terrifying for Fang Xing, and the only thing that kept him from banging his head against a wall was that there weren’t any walls around for the time being. Since the bead was nowhere to be found, chances were it had already been absorbed into his body and the bead’s draconic aura was already within him—it was no wonder the crazed dragon had locked on to Fang Xing. Given how the dragon had acted before, once he locked on to a pure-blooded dragon, he wouldn’t let go without taking a bite or two, so what could Fang Xing do now?

Faced with such an emergency as being chased by a red dragon, the golden crow no longer dared to change his direction and could only do his best to fly towards the south. If the crow turned, the distance between them and the red dragon would only decrease, and the dragon was so powerful the pair didn’t have any confidence in fighting him. They estimated they probably didn’t have enough battle prowess to last through even a few attacks before being completely swallowed up.

“There’s nothing left. Little bandit, it’s not that your Uncle Goldy isn’t a good brother, it’s just this is the most I can do!” the golden crow called out before deciding on something and flying towards the south with all his might.

After flying for an unknown period of time, they could feel the red dragon was now within a hundred miles behind them—nothing more than a mere few breaths away. They could feel the red dragon’s viciousness at their back, but in front of them was a mysterious location with countless bolts of lightning intermittently striking down from the sky.

It was as though they’d arrived at the end of the world. The waters of the ocean formed into a wall that reached to the heavens above, and countless thin lightning bolts struck down as though the whole world was locked in a cage of lightning. On the other side of the storm, it was as though there was nothing more than a vast emptiness far off into the distance, with only the faint sight of some islands. Even more peculiarly, the lightning and hurricane-force winds were all moving inwards, generating a strong suction power.

The Guixu Ruins of the South Sea!

The end of the world, the place of despair.

The place Fang Xing didn’t want to go to no matter what was getting closer and closer.

The golden crow flew towards the Guixu Ruins as best he could while speaking loudly towards Fang Xing, “Little bandit, this is as far as your Uncle Goldy can take you. I have some important matters to sort out myself, so I can’t go inside with you. All the best to you, and if you do happen to come out one day, do remember to come find me in the northern Kulu continent. By then, I’ll have either become the next generation of beast king, or my tombstone will be covered in wild grass and you should avenge me…. Which reminds me, all those treasures on you, why don’t you give them to me?”

“Sh*t, you want to throw me into it?” Fang Xing angrily replied before taking out the immortal’s snare and tying it around the golden crow’s neck. “In your dreams!”

“F*ck, you want both of us to die together?” the golden crow cried out as he was snared, and he just barely managed to avoid getting sucked in by the powerful force.

“I don’t want to go inside this shi*tty place by myself!” Fang Xing shouted back, “Since it’s either going in or dying, let’s go and check it out inside together!”

The golden crow growled. “I’m not f*cking going in! If I can’t get out, what’s the difference between living or dying?”

One man, one crow, although they hadn’t even reached the Guixu Ruins yet, they started smacking and biting each other in mid-air.

The crazed red dragon had locked on to Fang Xing and didn’t care about how dangerous the Guixu Ruins or its surroundings were. His eyes were filled with bloodthirst, and he rushed forward in excitement with his maw open as though he intended to swallow Fang Xing whole.

When Fang Xing realized there truly was no other means of escape, he helplessly let go of the golden crow and loudly cursed out, “Just f*ck the hell off, then. Your little grandpa will go inside by himself!” With that shout, he kicked the golden crow away.

The red dragon was already less than fifty miles away. Fang Xing stopped hesitating, and a pair of golden wings appeared on his back before he threw himself into the Guixu Ruins. Although the storm outside the ruins was strong, the forces inside were also quite potent; a person would only have to deal with the relatively harmless suction power if they were outside, but those who went inside would have to fend off the thunderstorm within—a difficult feat even for Budding Soul cultivators and one of the reasons the Guixu Ruins were so difficult to leave.

Fang Xing became a faint silhouette amidst an ocean of lightning and steadily disappeared from sight. The golden crow watched on and softly sighed out, “I really do have an important thing to do. Please don’t blame me….” The crow only had enough for a single sigh, however, before the red

dragon approached even closer. The golden crow quickly pretended Fang Xing was still on his back and turned to flee, leaving behind a golden ray of light in his passing. “You motherf*cking long worm!” he shouted at the red dragon, “If you’re so good, why don’t you come and chase me, your Uncle Goldy?”

The golden crow didn’t know why the red dragon was chasing after Fang Xing, and all he thought about was how he could best lure the dragon away.

The golden crow’s speed had actually increased further now that Fang Xing wasn’t on his back, and he had some confidence he could actually escape this time. However, the red dragon unexpectedly flew to the outer area of the Guixu Ruins and didn’t even pause before thrusting his entire body into the thunderstorm without a single moment of hesitation, chasing after Fang Xing’s long-gone shadow.