Chapter Ninety-Three: The Mount (Please Subscribe)

The qi fish soared into the air, heading straight for the Dragon Gate.

When it had still been nothing more than a river of qi, the Dragon Gate had been a presence one could long for but never reach. Yet after taking on the form of a fish, a single gentle flick of its tail closed the distance between them to nothing.

A graceful arc flashed through the air, and the qi fish leapt cleanly over the Dragon Gate.

The Dragon Gate, rendered with exquisite precision, seemed like the surface of a calm pool after a stone had been thrown into it; ripples spread across it in layers.

Once the qi fish passed over it, it burst apart with a loud crack, dissolving into the Dragon Gate, which was still trembling with waves.

After the explosive qi merged in, the rippling Dragon Gate froze at once, as though time itself had stopped.

But that only lasted for a moment. Beginning at the dragon horns, the Dragon Gate slowly melted away.

After melting, it gathered itself once more and took shape in the sky as a new fish.

This new fish was far more lifelike. If the earlier one had only been an outline, now even the scales on its body could be seen clearly.

Yet this realism extended only to its outline and scales, and even the scales were limited to the fish’s body.

Blood and qi surged through Fang Mu's body, and he felt an indescribable ease from head to toe. A long cry burst from his throat.

Crimson qi erupted, forming ring after ring around Fang Mu as it spread outward.

Yan Xian, standing beneath the great tree, saw this and involuntarily took a step back.

What kind of curse was this? How could he suddenly grow stronger in the middle of a fight? Was there no end to this madness?

After the long cry, the crimson qi drew back inward, and Fang Mu returned to normal.

He could feel the changes in the qi within him. Both its power and its endurance had undergone a qualitative transformation.

The slaughterer's blade swept through the air, and a dense mesh of刀光 fell from the heavens, slamming into the ground not far away.

A thunderous boom rang out.

Deep fissures appeared across the ground ahead, spreading outward for more than a hundred meters.

Fang Mu sheathed his blade, satisfied that this surge in strength had been perfect.

Meow!

Just as he was preparing to jump down from the tree, a cat's meow suddenly rang out.

Fang Mu froze, then broke into a look of great delight and opened the lid of the wooden chest.

A streak of afterimage flashed by, and Bai, who had been in a coma, appeared at the top of the great tree.

"Has it reached the mystic rank?" Fang Mu asked, looking at Bai rolling about at his feet, then bent down and stroked its fluffy body.

Bai's color had not changed; it was still the same as before.

After rubbing against Fang Mu's hand for a while, Bai turned its gaze to the bones at the top of the tree and let out a roar.

A wisp of black aura emerged from Bai's mouth, wrapped around the bones and the corpses, and drew them back into its body.

Meow!

Bai cried out once more, then leaped onto Fang Mu's shoulder and curled up there.

The great tree beneath them began to turn into ashes, and in the blink of an eye it vanished completely.

Fang Mu landed on the ground and, seeing the empty earth before him, let out a long breath.

This journey had been dangerous only in appearance; in truth, it had gone rather smoothly.

Yan Xian stepped forward and said, "Brother Fang, we can go back now... uh!"

Before he could finish speaking, a paw lightly pressed against his shoulder, and he was sent flying backward.

Bai withdrew its paw, wearing a harmless expression.

Do not be fooled by the fact that it had been unconscious; it knew everything happening outside. Especially since this fellow had even gone looking for its master and said something like fluffy things were nothing but external adornments. Wasn't that asking for a lesson?

In Bai's tiny little head, its master was everything.

Fang Mu said in surprise, "It really has gotten quite a bit stronger. How did I never notice before?"

Bai proudly lifted its head, jumped down from Fang Mu's shoulder, and its body expanded at astonishing speed.

In the blink of an eye, Bai had grown to the size of a tiger.

Now enlarged, Bai looked far more imposing, like a white tiger.

It lifted its head, seeming to want to show off a little to its master, but in the next moment it felt a weight settle onto its back.

Fang Mu was riding on Bai's back, his face alight with excitement. "A mount! This is a mount!"

Bai: "..."

Why did its master have so many strange traits? As a devourer of evil, it could barely keep up with this line of thought.

...

The Transmissions Office of the Eastern Bloom Prefecture Skywatch Division.

The office's new manager served two cups of tea and said, "Director Wu said that if Brother Fang returned, he should wait here."

Fang Mu took a sip of tea, patted Bai's fluffy head, and asked, "Did Director Wu say what it's about?"

The office manager shook his head, saying he did not know. After adding that they should call if anything came up, he tactfully took his leave.

Yan Xian sat nearby. He did not drink his tea, but stared hard at Bai, who was lying on the table.

"You've been staring for quite a while," Fang Mu said as he set down his teacup. "Did you figure out what the problem is?"

Yan Xian said in a tone of utter disbelief, "Brother Fang, this devourer of evil seems to hate me."

Bai turned its head, gave Yan Xian a faint glance, and extended its right paw.

On the palm pad, once soft and pink, sharp claws slid out like blades, full of menace.

Yan Xian awkwardly withdrew his gaze and changed the subject. "Brother Fang, now that everything is settled, what are you planning to do next?"

"Plan?" Fang Mu tapped the table. "What else would I plan to do? I'll keep on as my coroner."

Yan Xian sighed and said nothing.

With this matter concluded, he would soon be leaving as well.

The Skywatch Division had five tiers, and each tier had its own duties. The lowest tier, the case captains, were comparatively the busiest.

This journey had opened his eyes and taught him that there was always someone above you and always a higher heaven beyond. Once he left, he resolved to cultivate with even greater diligence.

After the two spoke a little longer, the room gradually fell quiet.

There is a very practical truth in the world: when three people sit together drinking tea and chatting, there may be endless topics to discuss, but when only two sit together in conversation, an odd void will often appear.

Of course, there are exceptions. For instance, when a man and a woman are alone, if they run out of things to say, they can still do something else—such as taking the woman to play games all night.

Fang Mu took another sip of tea and said, "By the way, that so-called evil Buddha you mentioned earlier—has the Skywatch Division still not caught him?"

Yan Xian shook his head. "Unlike the Five Gods Sect, the Five Gods Sect is nothing but a frog at the bottom of a well, content to stay in a corner and ignorant of how deep the waters outside are. But the evil Buddha was originally a very powerful mystic himself, so of course he knows the Skywatch Division's methods and is hiding very deeply."

Fang Mu nodded.

What he lacked now was not anything else, but a source of the strange and uncanny.

If he had a stable source, Fang Mu would be very willing to stir up trouble. After all, it would also strengthen his own power.

Holding up his teacup, Fang Mu sighed. "Alas, my strength is increasing far too slowly."

Thinking back to all those seniors from his previous life who had crossed over, none of them had their strength rise so sluggishly. Why had everything slowed to a crawl with him?

Yan Xian had finally worked up the mood for tea and had just brought the cup to his lips when he heard Fang Mu's words. He nearly spat it all out.