"Dammit! How could my luck be this terrible?!" Century Boy cursed under his breath, glaring all around him.
Century Boy was a notorious Strength Path Demonic Gu Master. He had earned his moniker decades ago after stumbling upon a rare longevity gu method that drastically extended his lifespan. All methods of doing so had a drawback with the exception of Lifespan Gu. This method made it so that his body was stuck as that of a child's, despite being 180 years old.
He was an old monster who had cultivated for decades, earning immense respect among the demonic path of the Southern Border. He was treated as a veteran godfather figure, adopting numerous rising demonic cultivators as his godchildren - one of whom had been Xue San Si.
When Fang Zheng killed Xue San Si, Century Boy had felt bound by honor to seek revenge. But before he could even plan an attack, catastrophe struck. While exploring the Three Kings Inheritance, Century Boy had gotten into a duel and killed another cultivator. Unfortunately, his opponent was a member of the Tie Clan.
The Tie Clan possessed a infamous tracking technique: any killer who slew a Tie clansman was instantly branded with the invisible Rust Flower Gu onto their souls. The moment Century Boy stepped out of the inheritance, the mark revealed his crime to the surrounding Tie Clan experts who immediately pounced.
Though Century Boy managed to avoid Tie Xue Leng - the Rank 5 expert was currently exploring the deeper layers of the inheritance - he ran straight into the Four Tie Clan Old-Timers.
These four elders were famous for their joint killer move: Search and Lock! Each of them possessed Rank 4 Middles Stage Cultivation, but their true strength lay in cooperating with one another.
The four elders now stood at the four cardinal directions - East, West, South, and North - maintaining a translucent, dark-purple barrier of qi that locked Century Boy inside a towering cage.
Inside the cage, Century Boy scoffed inwardly. He knew the hypocrisy of the righteous path all too well. The Tie Clan only dared to act so high and mighty on San Cha Mountain because Tie Xue Leng was present as the sole rank five powerhouse on the mountain.
Was he stupid? Did he want to kill that Tie clansmen? No! He was old enough to understand that such an act would spell ruin for him. But in the King Quan Inheritance, it was kill or be killed - everyone wandered into the inheritance knowing this rule. The Tie clansmen would have joyfully killed even other righteous path Gu Masters while wandering around if it came to it. And yet, they were prosecuting him for something they would've done without hesitation!
The four of them refrained from launching an immediate direct assault because maintaining the barrier consumed immense primeval essence, and they wished to preserve their strength for the trials in the Three Kings Inheritance.
Century Boy sat bitterly inside the purple tower barrier. 'These demonic scoundrels... they praise me as their godfather, yet not a single one comes to my aid! I should've raised a pack of dogs instead of them, at the very least they'd have been loyal!'
The truth of the matter was, both sides were waiting to see which one should move first.
On the one hand, Century Boy had the weaker allies while the Tie clan had Tie Xue Leng.
But precisely so!
Because of this, Tie Xue Leng would likely be in the Three Kings Inheritance for far longer than Century Boy's allies. The Tie clan old-timers had no way to send a message to Tie Xue Leng while he was in the inheritance. And so, Century Boy's allies would likely arrive at the scene before Tie Xue Leng.
In other words, Century Boy might soon have an opportunity to escape!
Because of this, he did not attack directly and was instead biding his strength and time before the opportunity arose. The Tie clan old-timers needed at least three people to maintain the barrier, and none of them could beat Century Boy in a straight-on fight.
The Tie clan old-timers knew all of this, and could only grit their teeth and hope that they could last long enough for more reinforcements to arrive before such a thing happened.
This situation had attracted the attention of everyone on San Cha Mountain, though no one had the guts to intervene as of now.
As this stalemate continued, a voice called on them from up above.
"Tie Clan Old-Timers!"
Fang Zheng leapt down from a high branch, landing gracefully right outside the perimeter of the barrier.
The four Tie Clan old-timers turned to look at him. Fang Zheng's fame had spread rapidly across San Cha Mountain following his recent exploits. There was not a single person who didn't know him.
"Greetings, Gu Yue Fang Zheng," one of the elders acknowledged politely. "Is there something we can help you with?"
"Indeed," Fang Zheng replied coldly. "Let me inside the barrier."
The four elders exchanged shocked glances. Maintaining the cage was draining their energy reserves, but entering it meant facing a dangerous Rank 4 demonic expert in close quarters.
"I heard there's a naughty little boy inside who needs a good spanking," Fang Zheng said darkly, cracking his knuckles as he stared down Century Boy.
The four old-timers then instantly understood. Fang Zheng had killed Xue San Si, Century Boy's goddaughter. Rather than waiting for Century Boy to escape and ambush him later, Fang Zheng had come to eliminate the threat preemptively.
'If Fang Zheng fights Century Boy inside the cage, we won't have to expend our own strength,' each of them thought.
They had worked with each other for so long that they could almost instinctively tell what the other was thinking and quickly came to a consensus.
"Be careful, Fang Zheng."
Smiling, the elders opened a small rift in the dark purple barrier, allowing Fang Zheng to step inside.
Century Boy gritted his teeth, realizing he couldn't run. "Fang Zheng! I know you killed my goddaughter. But everything can be negotiated! If you walk away, I promise to drop the matter entirely. Think about it, if we fight here, only the Tie clan benefits!"
Fang Zheng didn't waste a single word on negotiations. He instantly activated his All-Out Effort Gu, charging forward with a terrifying flurry of beast phantoms.
"Fang Zheng! Are you not concerned about my background? If you kill me here, my godchildren will avenge me!" Century Boy snarled.
"You think I'm afraid of your godchildren? Don't you know what my background is? Don't you know who my brother is? It's Gu Yue Fang Yuan!" Fang Zheng retorted. "A Gu Immortal!"
'Wait, I only need to last long enough for someone to come by and rescue me. There's still hope!' Century Boy thought, raising his defenses.
The battle inside the cage was brief and brutal.
Trapped within a confined space with nowhere to dodge, Century Boy was rapidly overwhelmed by Fang Zheng's raw offensive power. Fang Zheng attacked recklessly, using Justice Gu to maintain his defenses and essential invulnerability as he struck how he pleased. Century Boy had nowhere to run, and could not deal with Fang Zheng's overwhelming strength.
Within minutes, Fang Zheng shattered Century Boy's defenses and brought a heavy fist down, completely crushing Century Boy's head.
Fang Zheng clapped his hands together to dust them off, stepping back out through the barrier rift.
"Extremely well done! Lord Fang Zheng is truly a pillar of the righteous path!" the Tie Clan old-timers praised enthusiastically. "The Tie clan thanks Fang Zheng!"
Inwardly, they were all snickering. They had been in quite the pickle - but Fang Zheng had done their dirty work for them!
By eliminating Century Boy, Fang Zheng had cleared a massive thorn from their side without forcing the Tie Clan to waste precious resources. Not only that, but Century Boy's blood was now on Fang Zheng's hands!
Century Boy's surviving faction, if they still had any loyalty to him, would likely only try and attack Fang Zheng and not them.
At the same time, the four of them could easily reap rewards and benefits among the Tie clansmen, because they had directly contributed to the death of Century Boy! Nearly all the rewards with none of the risks - this really was a free lunch straight from Heaven!
Fang Zheng offered a curt nod of acknowledgment before turning on his heel and walking away.