The person in the painting couldn't speak, of course, and his strange eyes remained on Fang Xing's face.

It was incredibly satisfying to bully the grand ancestor of the Hentain clan, and Fang Xing became even more excited as he cursed on. "Damn old Hentian, did the heavens kill your entire family and bed your wife for you to want to hate the heavens? Let me tell you, your little grandpa here despises people like you the most! Hurry and spill where you hid your treasure or I'm going to burn you!"

The portrait of Grand Ancestor Hentian showed no response, and his eyes remained narrow alongside the diabolic aura.

"Oh? You're even putting on airs and don't want to spill? Do you think I won't actually burn you?" Fang Xing simply pulled out a flame talisman and threw it over. Since there wasn't anything worthwhile in this trash of a secret pavilion, simply burning such an ordinary-looking painting would do.

Fang Xing did have a hidden motive. His Book of Revelation brought him nothing but benefits, but there were still some items beyond ordinary understanding or objects so powerful he wasn't able to appraise them. Although this painting in front of him seemed normal, who knew whether there was actually some kind of unknown spell or mystery inside? He decided to give this method a try.

The flame talisman he used was the most ordinary kind, and the flame was nothing more than an ordinary fire that couldn't burn even the lowest-level spirit robe. If this painting actually had some kind of mystery to it, it should withstand the flame without any difficulty whatsoever. If it burned, it meant it wasn't a treasure and there was no need to care about it; if it couldn't burn, there had to be some secret within and he'd have to take it with him.

With a woosh, the flame talisman landed on the painting and turned into a ball of fire.

The painting had been here for who knows how many years, yet to Fang Xing's surprise, the material was incredibly dry and didn't have any spells to ward off fire or water. The painting truly began to burn when it was touched by the flame talisman—and incredibly quickly, at that. Seeing the painting suddenly in flames like this left Fang Xing speechless; 'It really burned up just like that. Seems there's no mysteries or secrets, then...'

Fang Xing was a bit taken aback and it was difficult to tell whether it was simply a reflection of light from the flames, but before the painting was completely engulfed, he faintly saw the old man seemingly give a faint smile...

"Eh?" Fang Xing thought he'd simply seen it incorrectly and was a bit bewildered.

Clang...

Something fell from the flame and landed on the ground, causing a crisp clanging sound before it rolled over to his feet. When Fang Xing focused his gaze, he noticed it was a bronze mirror—exactly the same as the one the old man had been holding in the painting. He was quietly surprised by this, but he could tell it was a treasure; after giving it a few nudges with his foot to make sure nothing was wrong with it, he picked it up for himself.

The bronze mirror was as large as a bucket and half an inch thick. It had an old, rusty appearance with numerous spells engraved on it, and the mirror itself wasn't very clear and didn't show any reflection. The diabolic aura was incredibly obvious even at a quick glance, and Fang Xing immediately knew this mirror wasn't some ordinary treasure, even if he didn't know how such a thing would come out from a burning painting...

'Nn. Gotta appraise it properly...'

Fang Xing attempted to use his Book of Revelation to study it, but he immediately discovered the amount of Qi he needed to do so was extremely high. It wouldn't necessarily be a huge issue under normal circumstances, but he'd spent a whole day and night continuously stealing eggs, snatching babies, and pinning everything onto the clan—all while using the presence-concealing spell, no less. He'd simply used too much Qi, and even the Blood Lotus he took to replenish himself wasn't quite enough.

After realizing how much Qi he'd need to use to appraise this bronze mirror, Fang Xing decided against doing it now. It would make things difficult for him if the situation became dangerous, so it would be better to take it with him and appraise it later when he had more time.

He went to pick out some more treasures, but the noise outside became louder and louder as the peril beasts' fighting gradually made its way closer, followed by a loud thud. It seemed as though the entire mountain began to shake as an earthquake tremored through the grotto, causing Fang Xing some surprise. He could tell a peril beast had arrived outside the mountain, and it would be extremely troublesome if it happened to bury him inside. With such thoughts, he stopped caring about the other treasures and flew out of the cave with the bronze mirror in hand.

When Fang Xing reached the grotto entrance, he saw a half-mountain-sized black bear roaring and thrashing its head amidst a cloud of wasps. The black bear loved the honey of these vicious wasps and the two were natural enemies, but it couldn't handle the pain and was running all over the mountain peaks. It had collided with the mountain, causing the tremors that had shocked Fang Xing while he was inside...

The Hentian clan's gathering spot was chaotic beyond imagination. The area was filled with fire and beasts fighting against each other, and the humans who could run had all already fled. There were nearly no cultivators in the air; even those who could fly wouldn't dare to do so now, as that would be the same as throwing themselves into the peril beasts' stomachs...

Aooo...

The vicious cry of the red dragon came from afar. Fang Xing assumed it was chasing the clan master and the elder, but a closer look revealed the dragon was currently locked in heated combat against a giant bird and a hill-sized tiger while the Hentian clan master was nowhere to be seen. This left Fang Xing unsure how to respond. This red dragon really didn't have a good brain; just how had it managed to get involved with these things..?

"Come back, big doggie!" Fang Xing called out to the very excited red dragon.

Fortunately, the red dragon hadn't been disadvantaged even against two peril beasts. All three were rather tired, and it could even be said the red dragon had held the advantage instead. The peril bird and giant tiger could see they had no chance at winning, so they retreated as well once they saw the red dragon leaving the fight.

"Where's the clan master and that elder?" Fang Xing took the opportunity to scold the red dragon, who raised its head and looked around in confusion as though it had forgotten those two long ago. "You don't even know how to fight! So disappointing!" Fang Xing couldn't help but to scold the dragon a bit more before jumping onto its head and pointing into the distant sky. "Go!"

The red dragon shook its tail before flying off into the sky. They left with great fanfare, yet nothing dared to stop them.

Meanwhile, within a hidden cave in the Hentian clan, the clan master gently set the heavily-wounded Head Exalt and clan's third uncle down. He looked at the only two remaining powerful masters of their clan who might die at any time, and the hatred and anger within him surged like a poison. Although there might be a lack of resources within the Guixu Ruins, the Hentian clan had always been one of the most powerful clans. Since when had they ever experienced such chaos? His past self would have never even imagined being cheated by a Foundation Stage junior like this even in the absolute worst of nightmares!

To make it all worse, whether it was intentional or not, the clan master happened to see Fang Xing riding triumphantly away on top of his red dragon and the anger in his heart only grew. He'd been a clan master for so many years and had cultivated a great deal of even-mindedness, yet he still couldn't suppress his rage. He pulled out a large black bow and flew to the peak of the mountain before aiming a blood-red arrow straight towards Fang Xing...

"Please help me, Grand Ancestor. Allow me to kill this little demon who destroyed our Hentian clan's gathering spot..."

A mid-stage Golden Core had started praying before attempting to kill a Foundation Stage junior. It was all too clear how much the annihilation of his clan had impacted him.. or perhaps he'd simply been frightened out of his wits.

After a long moment of praying, he finally focused his Qi and drew back the bowstring, causing spells to appear around the bow's body...

Just as the clan master was about to release the arrow, however, Fang Xing who was several dozen miles away suddenly looked back on high alert. This left the clan master surprised; just how could this be possible? He was a mid-stage Golden Core and he was actively hiding his aura, so how could a Foundation Stage junior sense it in advance from so far away?

But so what if this Foundation Stage junior could sense it? The clan master stopped caring and clenched his teeth while preparing to release the arrow!

Fang Xing's mind began concentrating and thinking quickly at the same time. His innate ability to sense danger was very strong, and it was only compounded by his spirit sense that was so powerful even normal Golden Cores would be envious. He'd been somewhat alarmed the moment the clan master pointed an arrow towards him, and he'd ended up glancing in the direction the threat was coming from. Just as he was about to cover himself with the unnamed technique, however, an eye-blinding light abruptly shined from his hand—from the bronze mirror he'd taken out from the Hentian clan's secret pavilion.

Fang Xing's storage sacks had simply been too full for him to put the bronze mirror inside, and he'd further thought there had to be something special about it since it was a treasure used by the Hentian clan's grand ancestor in the past. He intended to use the Book of Revelation as soon as he could, but now he was coiled up in such a messy battle that he didn't have the opportunity. Unexpectedly, the bronze mirror began acting on its own once danger appeared...

A pale yellow light suddenly extended from the bronze mirror and into the sky above, brightening half the sky. All the maddened peril beasts in the surroundings suddenly seemed to show looks of fear as they gazed up at the pale yellow light above, as though the light had an innate power to suppress them.

"How can this be pos—" When the clan master saw the pale yellow light—or, more specifically, sensed that power—he suddenly felt a great shudder in his mind. "That's.. how could it be in his hands?" His hand let go and the string pulled taut. The arrow shot off to some unknown location, but his face was utterly blank as he stared at that light with disbelief.

As for the Head Exalt and head elder sitting within the cave, they looked to that light with faces full of surprise. "How.. how can this be?" Their expressions were complicated, filled with shock, disbelief, and even the hint of a bitter smile...