Who gave you permission to travel through time with Earth?

"Buzz—"

Almost instantly, Fang Jin had already charged forward with his sword, swinging the incredibly heavy sword energy in a full circle, colliding with Hu Shan's red talisman armor from the side! A huge buzzing sound instantly resounded throughout the entire area!

Fang Jin felt a spasm in his arm, and the tremor from the impact spread throughout his body, so much so that the rocks beneath his feet were shaken open and cracks appeared on the flat ground.

"Good lad! Impressive skill!"

Hu Shan laughed heartily and praised Fang Jin's arms, which he also recognized as the Fang family's Iron Forging Method, which was extremely pure Yang and domineering, making it the perfect choice for his first battle after his comeback.

Fang Jin frowned, his body already covered in bruises and internal bleeding. He wasn't a martial artist, so he didn't have any internal or external protective energy, and the damage he suffered was actually greater than that of others.

Unfortunately, the characteristics of the red rune armor were quite effective against him. On the surface, it appeared to be just pure hard skill, but the force of the attack was continuous within his body, and it also carried the properties of shock and tearing, making it unexpectedly troublesome.

...Should we use Buddhist methods? No, if we expose the Fire Playing Technique, a method similar to that of a Grandmaster of the Sixty Years, the nature of sending the Buddha back to his homeland will be fundamentally changed, and we definitely won't be able to get past the Sacred Hand Manor.

Moreover, if someone with ulterior motives interprets this as a wonderful method that Fang Jin obtained from the Buddhist nun, then the original suspicions will be completely confirmed, and they will be recognized by the world as possessing the key to entering the path of divinity.

But could she really defeat them using only the furnace mode and swordsmanship, her skills so restrictive? Fang Jin wiped the blood off her blade, her mind filled with doubt. She then turned to Cui Cui and said:

"You should get out of the way first. If the relic falls into their hands, you're finished. Protecting yourself is your responsibility..."

In fact, he didn't need to say anything more. Cui Cui had already run far away and hid in the jar used to store black oil at the entrance of the Black Snake Gang. Her raised thumb quickly retracted, leaving not even a gap for herself.

Meanwhile, the Xuanwu Guards who were first affected by the stone rain were carefully hidden by her in the dead corners of the cave, with straw mats laid out to conceal them as much as possible, which was much more efficient than the others.

"...I've actually started to like her."

Fang Jin smiled and weighed the back of his sword, facing off against Hu Shan, who was clad in red armor. At the same time, some of the martial artists from Chiling Village had approached, and Tao Shan and the Xuanwu Guards held the narrow pass, cutting off the increasingly crowded heads.

"Old chieftain, this kind of probing is pointless. The second-in-command of Chiling Village is an official of our Li Dynasty, yet you're colluding with outsiders to block us... You really dare to tear off the mask of civility."

"Haha, to be honest, Young Master Fang, we were indeed ordered by the imperial court to get involved in this mess. There are still two generals stationed at the stronghold. You are the traitors who should be punished!"

"I don't know who I heard the rumor from, but it seems that you crippled the eldest son of the Zhou family and kept him in the carriage. You took on such a heavy responsibility as sending the Buddha back to his hometown, and you also ate all the credit and the profits."

"This is a serious crime, no wonder the court is suspicious. Why don't you open that blue sedan chair and let us all see it? If you're innocent, we might as well let you go!"

Hu Shan laughed loudly, his full beard trembling like steel needles. The Xuanwu Guards around him turned pale, thinking that the court really knew what the general had done, and they were filled with unease.

"sure."

Fang Jin, however, smiled calmly, her open and aboveboard attitude surprising Hu Shan. But then he sneered, kicked the blue sedan chair into the cave, and said...

"But you think you'll let us leave just because you've seen us? Do you even believe that? You've gathered people from Tieling and Murder Ridge in Snake Valley under the guise of stealing the Buddha. What will they do if they lose their target?"

"With such a massive scale, Chiling will likely be wiped out on the spot by the backlash. This reckless gamble to seize the Buddha has completely deviated from the orders of the Li Dynasty. How dare you, Hu Shan, not be a traitor?!"

Clay Figure Zhang and Courtesan Wang, hidden in the shadows, were both taken aback. They had felt something was off from the start; Hu Shan was being far too compliant with their demands. First, half of the Chiling Village's forces had been committed...

Upon arriving at Snake Valley, they even contacted Killer Ridge to spread a snake tide to suppress it from the inside. If even that Heavenly Umbrella guy from Tieling came... this wouldn't be a test at all, but a complete massacre!

"What should we do? Our original goal was to find out if the Crown Prince was alive and well, but now... it seems we can't care about that anymore. The impact of the Buddha's death would probably be more serious than the loss of the seed."

Li Renwang frowned and said that Hu Shan was even more enthusiastic about this matter than about the meat spirit mushroom. Now that he thought about it, there were problems to begin with, but it seems that they alone can no longer stop the fire.

"I had already sent a message to the eunuch in the stronghold. His meaning was... wait. We cannot confirm whether Hu Shan really has the guts to betray us. After all, his actions have not yet truly broken the rules."

Clay Figure Zhang looked at the thumb-sized letter in his hand, his voice rising slightly. He was surprised by Li Changshi's attitude, but after reading the last word, he breathed a sigh of relief and said...

"Don't worry, to prevent the situation from getting out of control, the lord has already dispatched a team to the Snake Valley area. They will arrive in a short while. If Hu Shan really betrays us, even he will choose to take action."

"As expected of you, sir, you are incredibly insightful. In that case, we just need to focus on our own tasks."

Only then did the Prince of Li feel relieved. If Li Changshi arrived, even if all the elders of the Three Ridges were here, the situation would not get out of control. The title of the number one person below the Grandmaster level cannot be overshadowed by numbers.

"...My loyalty to the court is as clear as the sun and moon."

In the arena, Hu Shan simply stuck to that polite remark and continued to fight Fang Jin. Even if he had something in mind, how could he possibly admit it now? Only after obtaining the relic would he have the leverage to break off all pretense.

He lunged forward, his massive, bear-like body fully extended, layers of force flowing from his red armor to his front, violent yet relentless like ocean waves, crashing towards Fang Jin's chest!

Even before the blow landed, the fist bones emitted a chilling, eerie sound. Fang Jin's arm also swelled with molten fluid as he chose to collide head-on with Hu Shan. The moment their fists collided was like thunder exploding on the mountaintop!

"boom--!"

The impact lasted only a moment. Hu Shan was straining his strength to shatter Fang Jin's hand bones when he suddenly felt his opponent's strength vanish, followed by a sharp pain in his arm!

Fang Jin only blocked the first wave of force, and then instantly withdrew his strength and held the knife. Instead, he used Hu Shan's fist force to scrape a layer of flesh off his upper arm, and even took the opportunity to go straight for his neck!

"Sizzle—"