Bai Huazhi didn't think much of it and got up to move forward. Qi Muyuan frowned but didn't stop him.
When Bai Huazhi got so close that he was only a step away from him, Fu Yangxu's eyes turned cold, and he suddenly attacked him.
The surging spiritual energy carried towering flames; if Qi Muyuan hadn't intervened with his sword, Bai Huazhi would probably have been engulfed in flames.
"What do you mean by this, sir?" Bai Huazhi roared in anger, all the respect on his face gone. "Why did you try to kill me?"
Despite his failed attack, Fu Yangxu remained unconcerned, glancing at Qi Muyuan and remarking, "The sword intent is fierce, but impure."
His tone was somewhat regretful, as if he were lamenting that a promising swordsmanship genius had failed to cultivate pure sword intent.
But Qi Muyuan simply replied nonchalantly, "That's enough."
For him, sword intent was something he only needed to use, not to comprehend.
Fu Yangxu glanced at Qi Muyuan again before taking a moment to answer Bai Huazhi's question: "If you want to kill me, why can't I kill you?"
Fu Mingxu was shocked and was about to come out to help.
“You can’t kill me.” But Fu Yangxu seemed to sense something and added, “Of course, if your companions help, that’s another story.”
He stood up, and the fire snakes on the nine chains soared into the air, eyeing Bai Huazhi menacingly, as if searching for the right angle to devour him.
"Aren't you curious?" Bai Huazhi knew he couldn't leave, so he didn't attack immediately. Instead, he asked, "Don't you want to know who wants to kill you?"
Fu Yangxu gently shook his head: "I don't want to."
But Fu Mingxu knew that it wasn't that he didn't want to know; he just didn't want to know more.
Too much talk leads to mistakes.
At this moment, Qi Muyuan turned to look at him and suddenly asked, "Who is your master?"
Seeing Bai Hua's surprise, he added, "Since we're going to cooperate, I should know the strength of the person behind you, right?"
Fu Yangxu also looked at him. Although the two people hidden in the shadows did not make any move, they were always vigilant for his safety.
Bai Hua smiled, then quickly composed himself, though his eyes betrayed an undisguised sense of triumph. "My master is a celestial official from the heavens."
When his guess was confirmed, Qi Muyuan's brow twitched violently, but he felt no joy whatsoever.
Fu Yangxu's shoulders slumped slightly, as if he had been relieved, or as if he had already guessed it.
"You help me kill him." Bai Hua's cultivation was limited, and even if he transformed into a demon, he would still be no match for Fu Yangxu.
Moreover, he felt a chill run down his spine whenever he looked at the fire snakes on those nine chains.
Fu Mingxu clenched his fist, the chaotic energy in his dantian stirring restlessly, wishing he could go up and punch Bai Hua right now.
Bai Huazhi finally revealed his trump card, showing that he wasn't afraid Qi Muyuan wouldn't help: "The power of the stars is within him. As long as he dies, you can obtain the power of the stars controlled by the Witch Clan."
The cave had long since returned to calm. Qi Muyuan stood there like a sharp sword about to drink blood, his gaze fixed on Fu Yangxu, his brows furrowed as if he were pondering Bai Huazhi's words.
Bai Hua was confident that he could agree, so Fu Mingxu was about to reveal himself.
“He’s Fu Mingxu’s father, isn’t he?” Qi Muyuan exhaled slowly, rubbing his temples as if he were in a dilemma. “If I kill him and Fu Mingxu finds out, he and Han Tao will definitely not let me off easily.”
He looked at Bai Huazhi, his eyes narrowed, a dangerous glint in them. "You're plotting against me, aren't you?"
The situation took a sharp turn for the worse. Bai Huazhi was terrified, but he didn't show it on his face. He fully utilized his acting skills honed over many years in the Demon Realm, saying, "If you don't tell me, and I don't tell you, who will know?"
"Don't you want the power of the stars?"
No one desires the power of the stars more than Qi Muyuan. Moreover, he has already obtained the lunar core, so there is no reason for him to leave this last step unfinished after taking the previous ninety-nine steps.
Bai Huazhi's immediate decision to give him what he wanted was precisely because he had calculated this.
He felt it was only a matter of time before Qi Muyuan made his move.
Qi Muyuan's eyes seemed to see right through him. Fu Yangxu noticed the "internal strife" between the two. He scanned the cave inch by inch with his eyes, his fingers moving behind him, and soon found the location of Fu Mingxu and the other man.
The father and son are still secretly competing with each other.
"You don't need to worry about being discovered." A dagger shimmering with multicolored light suddenly appeared in Bai Hua's palm. He didn't seem to care about discussing how to harm the person in question in front of others. "Just use this..."
Before he could finish speaking, something unexpected happened.
A golden light struck the dagger in his hand, while Qi Muyuan twirled his longsword in a powerful flourish.
Before the dagger even had a chance to be activated, Fu Mingxu enveloped it in chaotic energy and grabbed it in his hand.
Qi Muyuan's sword tip once again landed on Bai Huazhi's throat.
The situation completely reversed. Fu Mingxu rushed out from the hidden formation, glared fiercely at Bai Huazhi, and looked at Fu Yangxu with concern in his eyes.
Now, Bai Huazhi was completely panicked.
"You've betrayed me!" The sword tip pressed against his throat, ready to take his life at any moment, he roared in fury, "Qi Muyuan!"
Qi Muyuan's lips curled into a cold smile: "Did I promise you anything?"
Bai Hua was taken aback. Upon reflection, he realized that Qi Muyuan had never reached any agreement with him from beginning to end. He had thought he had the other party's mindset and leverage.
The dagger struggled in Fu Mingxu's hand, emitting a buzzing sound.
With a sharp squeeze of the chaotic energy, and with a sound like a bubble being popped, the multicolored light on the dagger vanished completely.
Fu Mingxu's delicate eyebrows and eyes held a cold glint, while Han Tao's profile, viewed from the side, was already extremely stern.
A golden longsword pierced Bai Huazhi's chest with lightning speed. Qi Muyuan quickly withdrew his sword and looked at Han Tao with surprise in his eyes.
Fu Mingxu's brows furrowed slightly, "Han Tao, you..."
With murderous intent gleaming in his golden eyes, Han Tao sheathed his sword and said calmly, "He's using Shadow Transmission."
The so-called "image transmission" refers to using secret methods to transmit images from this place to other places, making it seem as if one is there in person.
As soon as he finished speaking, Qi Muyuan flicked his sword, and the teleportation stone in Bai Huazhi's hand, which had not yet been activated, rolled on the ground.
Fu Yangxu looked at the deathly look on Bai Huazhi's face, and then at the coldness on Han Tao's face. Although he felt that Han Tao's actions were too ruthless, he said nothing.
Inside the cave, the three exchanged a strange look, as if they had reached some kind of decision.
The fear of death once again enveloped Bai Huazhi, but this time he was not as soft-hearted as Si Yang Xianjun. As he watched Han Tao fall and felt the life force disappear from his body, he never expected his end to be so hasty.
In the final moment before his soul dissipated, his gaze fixed on Fu Mingxu's face. The other man had exquisite features, yet his eyes held nothing but disgust.
Han Tao moved a step and stood right in front of Fu Mingxu, blocking his view.
Before Si Yang Xianjun arrived, Bai Huazhi's body had already been burned to ashes, leaving only an unactivated image stone.
"Don't tell my master." Qi Muyuan sheathed his sword and said to the two of them, "If you want him to worry."
Fu Mingxu turned to look at him, frowned, and said only, "Immortal Lord Siyang is more perceptive than you think."
Qi Muyuan lowered his eyelashes, then smiled when he looked up again, "Perhaps."
After saying that, he bent down to pick up the teleportation stone from the ground and covered his head with his black robe.
"Bai Hua is dead. Those behind him will definitely find out. You should be more worried about yourselves."
The one who truly made the agreement with him was Han Tao; as for Bai Huazhi, he was merely a pawn in Han Tao's scheme.
It seems that Fu Mingxu is unaware of this.
Qi Muyuan nodded slightly to Fu Yangxu, then disappeared.
Fu Mingxu, whose mind was entirely focused on his father, didn't think too much about it and instead turned to stare at Fu Yangxu.
Fu Yangxu sat down cross-legged again, and the fire snakes on the nine chains burned even more fiercely than before.
He sighed deeply, looked at Fu Mingxu with affection, and slowly said, "Your mother is indeed from the Upper Realm."
A note from the author:
I'll take a break tomorrow and update again on Monday.
Chapter 99
Fu Yangxu's clear and melodious voice slowly echoed in the scorching cave, like a clear stream flowing gently through the mountains in autumn, accompanied by the cool autumn breeze and falling leaves, telling a story to the spirits of the mountains and rivers.
Fu Mingxu's mother's name was Zhaoling.
Under the bright moonlight, peach blossoms fluttered all over the mountain. The newly appointed head of the Fu family met the love of his life in the peach blossom forest on a spring night.
The moonlight was like water, and the beauty was like jade. In the night, the moment Fu Yangxu stepped forward and looked up, his eyes met those of the girl standing quietly in the peach blossom forest.
Everything was just right.
Fu Yangxu heard the sound of a rapid heartbeat, the intense heartbeat resonating within his chest and flesh, carrying with it a joy that welled up from the depths of his soul.
At that time, the Heavenly Ladder of the Cangling Continent had long been severed, and cultivators had no possibility of ascending. At least at their first meeting, Fu Yangxu never associated her with the unreachable Upper Realm.
Zhaoling said she was being chased by her enemies and had mistakenly entered this place. The bloodstains on the hem of her white dress and her slightly tired expression subconsciously made him believe her.
Naturally, Fu Yangxu settled him in a small house in the Fu family's peach blossom forest. The two went from initially receiving gifts and treating each other with respect to eventually getting to know and love each other.
Finally, the two pledged their lives to each other under the moon.
Zhaoling was unwilling to stay at the Fu family's residence permanently, saying that a wedding could not truly unite people's hearts, so Fu Yangxu listened to her advice and gave up the idea of holding a grand wedding.
Therefore, it wasn't until Fu Mingxu was seven years old and was brought back to the Fu family that the other members of the Fu family learned of the existence of the mother and son.
Fu Yangxu's love story was beautiful and simple in its early stages, as if everything was a beautiful destiny ordained by heaven.
Until, Zhaoling disappeared without any warning.
All she left Fu Mingxu with was a beautiful memory and the living, breathing child Fu Mingxu, so that he wouldn't feel like he had just had a beautiful dream.
“I’ve investigated a lot, but I haven’t found any of the enemies your mother mentioned.” Fu Yangxu sat cross-legged with a calm expression, as if he were talking about something very ordinary. “A wild goose leaves a trace in its wake. Anything on the Cangling Continent can disappear, but they will leave an indelible mark in the laws of Heaven.”
Fu Mingxu remembers that even in Yunhan City today, there are still older people who occasionally lament the fleeting brilliance of the Fu family's prodigy.
“I was born with exceptional celestial qualities. If it weren’t for the need to revitalize the Fu family and remain as the family head, and the fact that I cannot ascend in this Cangling Continent, I should have gone to the Great Immortal Sect to find a wider world.”
"Later, I met your mother and then you came into my life. All I wanted was for the two of us to cultivate together for a long time, raise you to adulthood, and make the Fu family even more prosperous. That would not be disgracing the Fu family."
"After your mother disappeared, I searched for her under the guise of traveling, but I have never been able to find even a trace of her."
"In this world, apart from you and me, there is no one else who knows her."
"It was as if she had fallen from the sky."
"Until I stumbled upon the ruins of the Witch Clan and learned the Witch Clan's method of divination using the power of stars, I was able to deduce her existence from the laws of heaven and earth."