Chapter Ninety-Nine: The Malevolent King Reemerges in the Southern Wilderness

"Forget it."

The figure in the white robe cast a disdainful glance at Xuanyuan. As his lips parted slightly, a surge of spiritual consciousness flowed into Xuanyuan's ear, conveying the instructions he intended to leave behind in total silence.

About half an hour later, the white-robed figure finally finished his briefing.

Xuanyuan nodded cautiously, shed the eye-catching red robe he was wearing, and revealed a set of pitch-black night-traveling garments underneath. With a light tap of his toes, he leaped out of the pavilion in a few swift motions, drifting directly toward the foot of Mount Xuandan in the darkness, and vanished in an instant.

After Xuanyuan departed, the white-robed figure remained standing in the ancient pavilion, hands clasped behind his back.

After several seconds of silence, his earlobes twitched slightly, and he frowned. Then, he spoke in a resonant voice: "Since you have come, you might as well stay. Why hide in the shadows?"

"Hahaha."

A hearty laugh rang out from around the bend of the mountain. As the sound faded, the person appeared; the newcomer, clad in green robes, materialized like a wisp of green smoke outside the pavilion.

His green robes were not particularly conspicuous in the night. His jet-black hair hung neatly over his shoulders, tied into a simple bun by a jade crown. His broad, square face exuded honesty and kindness; he was a handsome man in his forties.

"It's you?"

The white-robed figure clearly had not expected the newcomer to be an old acquaintance. His body trembled involuntarily the moment he turned around, and his expression was instantly flooded with a complex array of emotions—a fleeting glance revealed anger, fear, and even a touch of the warmth and nostalgia that comes with meeting an old friend after a long separation.

"It is I, Fan Sheng," the green-robed man replied calmly.

The middle-aged man who had emerged from the night was none other than the reclusive powerhouse of Hanyuan Valley—Fan Sheng.

It turned out that on the day Bai Mu sat by the pool in deep meditation, a spiritual bird had flown in from the edge of the plum forest, landing on Fan Sheng’s shoulder with a jade slip in its beak. After checking the contents of the jade slip, he, who had been in high spirits, suddenly felt a cold sweat break out on his back, and his calm face was overcome by a surge of complex emotions.

Consequently, when Bai Mu made a breakthrough in the "Benevolence Like Water" technique, Fan Sheng showed no sign of excitement and did not even delve into any in-depth discussion about the cultivation method.

After nightfall, while Bai Mu was resting, he had traveled alone on his Bifang bird to the Southern Wilds, arriving just in time to witness the conversation between Xuanyuan and the white-robed figure at the Wanghuai Pavilion on Mount Xuandan. However, having lived in seclusion in Hanyuan Valley for years, he did not recognize the Sword Immortal Xuanyuan, initially assuming him to be an ordinary mortal who had unfortunately been controlled by the Evil Clan, and thus gave it little thought.

The white-robed man saw that Fan Sheng was standing quietly, his face devoid of much change in expression. His own demeanor turned stern, and he demanded angrily, "Fan Sheng, do you still have the face to come to Mount Xuandan to see me?"

"Could it be that you are here on the orders of the Celestial Emperor Lingxiao once again to exterminate my Evil Clan?"

"No."

Fan Sheng shook his head slowly, persuading him with profound sincerity: "Zigui, since you have already been trapped within the barrier for ten thousand years, why must you reappear in the Savage Realm to stir up trouble?"

"Laughable! How laughable!"

Zigui retorted with impatient fury: "These words are utterly ridiculous! Does it mean that only your God Clan is allowed to enslave the realms of the wild, while we, the demons and the evil, are not permitted to rise up and resist?"

Fan Sheng shrugged, unmoved, and asked calmly, "With your current cultivation, can you really resist the powerful forces of the God Clan?"

"Just for tonight's operation alone, you shouldn't even dream of leaving the foot of Mount Xuandan in one piece..."

"Shut your mouth!"

The handsome face of Zigui in the white robe darkened instantly, and he roared back: "Fan Sheng, if not for you sneaking into Mount Xuandan to steal our sacred treasure—the Myriad-Control Evil Flute—do you think our Evil Clan would have lost to the God Clan?"

"When it all comes down to it, you and Fan Xian are nothing but despicable villains, fame-seeking hypocrites through and through!"

"Hmph, hmph, hmph."

After hearing his fierce accusations, Fan Sheng did not lose his composure; instead, he sneered with even greater poise: "Zigui, in the old days, you were considered one of the top ancient powerhouses in the wild realms."

"If you hadn't relied on that Evil Flute, which can control all things under heaven, to wreak havoc everywhere, why would the people of my God Clan have bothered you for no reason?"

"Enough of your nonsense!"

Cornered by the barrage of questions, Zigui was left speechless and could only interrupt Fan Sheng’s words in a headstrong manner.

He then cast a venomous, cold-glaring gaze at the green-robed Fan Sheng in the night, shook his head helplessly, and said, "We have known each other for ten thousand years. Although we have always stood as bitter enemies, I must admit that among the God Clan, I only respect you, Fan Sheng, Fan Xian, and Fairy Lichen of the Kunlun Secret Realm."

"As for a low-life scoundrel like the Celestial Emperor Lingxiao, I have always held him in contempt."

"Very well. Since you have discovered my tracks today, I will no longer hide."

After speaking, Zigui sighed toward the sky and turned to look at the towering Mount Xuandan behind him, where lush, ancient trees stood tall, and the ruins of pavilions from ten thousand years ago were still faintly visible in the night.

A while later, he shook his head helplessly and smiled bitterly: "You are right. When I escaped from the barrier that you and Fan Xian jointly set up on Mount Xuandan, I did indeed exhaust nearly half of my cultivation."

"With the balance of power shifted, I am certainly no longer a match for you, Fan Sheng."

"However!"

The Evil Prince Zigui’s tone shifted suddenly, his face filled with determination: "Once one has reached our level of cultivation, the physical body can be said to be immortal and indestructible."

"Even if you manage to destroy my physical form, my soul can still escape and find a new host to be reborn. Therefore, you cannot truly stop me tonight!"

"You don't need to remind me of that!"

"I have no intention of destroying your body, nor do I plan to annihilate your soul."

"I was able to suppress you once with a barrier ten thousand years ago, and I can do the same today!"

Having said that, Fan Sheng confidently extended his strong, slender arm and waved it through the air. A silver light flickered in his clean palm, and the white jade flute materialized out of thin air.

"Do you remember this jade flute?"

"This is the Myriad-Control Evil Flute you once used to manipulate all things in heaven and earth. However, its name is now the Myriad-Control Divine Flute."

"Despicable."

Zigui stared at the jade flute in Fan Sheng's hand with rage, flames of fury burning in his eyes. It was a flame of hatred, but also one of greed.

"Since you believe that the God-Evil war ten thousand years ago was won by the God Clan only through trickery,"

"Very well, I will give you a fair chance to compete tonight."

"If you can defeat me, then this Myriad-Control Divine Flute shall be returned to its original owner. How about that?" Fan Sheng stared at Zigui with a confident look in his eyes, issuing him a final challenge.