Chapter 44: Murong Fu's Plan of Utter Extinction!

Seeing Bao Butong humiliated by Zhang Fang in such a manner, Yan Qingyun’s temples could not help but bulge with veins.

Even Yan Shanhe subconsciously clenched his fists.

It felt as though Zhang Fang’s slap had not landed solely on Bao Butong’s face, but simultaneously struck all three of them across the face.

While administering the beatings, Zhang Fang would occasionally glance over toward the two of them. Taking in their reactions to Bao Butong being slapped, he instantly felt a rush of incomparable satisfaction.

Yan Shanhe, and you still claim you are not Murong Fu!

Sneering inwardly, Zhang Fang did not halt his attacks for a moment. As he struck, he spoke in a condescending tone: "In the eyes of the Buddha, everyone is a Buddha; in the eyes of dog excrement, everyone is dog excrement. The moment you witness another's actions and immediately resort to despicable tactics such as buying off people's hearts or making excuses to buy time, it only proves that your own mind is thoroughly filthy!"

"Non—"

"Clang!"

As a top-tier blabbermouth, Bao Butong naturally had no fear of verbal sparring, but the moment he opened his mouth and managed only a single syllable, the shield-blade in Zhang Fang's hand slashed straight toward his throat. The movement was so swift and fierce that Bao Butong barely had time to raise his sword horizontally to parry. Yet, forced to alter his stance in a hurry, he was knocked half a step back together with his sword by Zhang Fang's shield strike, forcing him to swallow the impending second syllable back down his throat.

At that moment, someone among the surrounding Beggars' Sect disciples took the lead and shouted, "Elder You speaks well!"

Immediately afterward, a chorus of echoes rose one after another.

"Elder You is completely right!"

"This Bao Butong simply has a filthy mind, so everyone looks filthy to him!"

"He is the classic example of someone lacking love in childhood and becoming a pervert in adulthood!"

...

Furious and burning with resentment, Bao Butong made a ruthless decision. Disregarding the steel shield slashing toward his waist, his longsword went straight for Zhang Fang's chest. Employing this mutual-destruction tactic, he finally forced Zhang Fang to retract his shield and switch to defense.

Finally breathing a sigh of relief, Bao Butong widened his eyes and blurted out once again, "Non—"

"Clang!"

Not giving Bao Butong the chance to finish his two-syllable catchphrase, Zhang Fang's steel shield flew out of his hand, once again forcing him to swallow that second word. Following closely, Zhang Fang lunged forward, caught the shield, and unleashed a rapid flurry of fierce attacks. This time, he didn't even give Bao Butong the opportunity to attempt mutual destruction. After just five moves, Zhang Fang pinned Bao Butong's sword with the surface of his shield, executed a backhanded slap with his left hand, and left a clear palm print across Bao Butong's left cheek.

Now they were symmetrical!

Nodding in satisfaction, Zhang Fang continued to press the attack on Bao Butong unhurriedly, saying in a cold voice, "Earlier you claimed my actions were meant to buy people's hearts. Then why is it that now, as you suffer such humiliation, your esteemed Young Master Murong has not stepped forward to buy *your* heart?"

"Non—"

"Clang!"

"Why aren't you speaking?" While using his overwhelming martial prowess to suppress both Bao Butong's body and mouth, rendering him speechless, Zhang Fang questioned further, "Could it be because you are well aware of your own weight, and realize you simply aren't worth your Young Master Murong investing in?"

"Because buying people's hearts requires a price, such as placing oneself in the perilous position of being surrounded by the heroes of the Beggars' Sect."

"For someone like you, it simply isn't worth it."

"Because, you are unworthy!"

Zhang Fang fought as he spoke, his movements flowing like moving clouds and flowing water while his mouth ran incessantly. Whenever Bao Butong tried to open his mouth to retort, Zhang Fang always found a way to block his words, allowing him to spit out at most a single syllable before cutting him off entirely.

This drove Bao Butong to the verge of absolute torment, suppressing him to the point of nearly coughing up blood!

Driven mad by humiliation, he attempted a desperate counterattack, but the gap in strength between them could no longer be bridged by sheer desperation.

With the level of the *Longevity Sacred Qi: Yang* raised to Level 3, the genuine Qi within Zhang Fang's Dantian had grown to a considerable scale. Horizontal comparison placed him on par with the second-rate experts of the *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils* world—namely, the elders of the Beggars' Sect, Bao Butong, Feng Bo'e, the You brothers, and Dan Zheng.

Coupled with the attribute bonuses provided by *Conquering the Dragon with Regret* and *The Thirty-Six Heavenly Gang Shield Technique*, Zhang Fang firmly outmatched Bao Butong even in his weakest foundation.

Compared to attributes and internal energy foundations, Zhang Fang's advantage in combat techniques was simply astronomical!

The average level of combat techniques among second-rate experts in the *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils* world meant cultivating a martial art of decent power to Level 7, or cultivating two similar martial arts to Level 6.

Take the You brothers, for example; they had cultivated their family shield technique to Level 7 while simultaneously practicing a primary offensive weapon. Although its level was not high, when combined with their shield techniques, it could still unleash formidable power.

With such a configuration, the You brothers were already considered standout figures among second-rate experts!

In contrast, after digesting all his gains within the Reincarnation Space, Zhang Fang's family shield technique had reached the consummate realm of Level 10! The exact same moves in his hands achieved the effects of supernatural mastery and returning to simplicity.

Was this realm powerful? One could simply refer to Qiao Feng's *Grand Ancestor Long Fist*!

He slightly surpassed his opponent in internal energy, crushed his opponent in techniques, and possessed a massive reaction-speed advantage boosted by the *Longevity Sacred Qi*. Coupled with seven days of high-intensity training in the Reincarnation Space's training grounds, even his shortcoming of lacking combat experience had been completely remedied.

At present, Zhang Fang could undoubtedly be considered a well-rounded, flawless, hexagonal warrior within the *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils* world.

What could Bao Butong possibly use to fight him?

In the blink of an eye, five more moves passed. Taking advantage of Bao Butong's sword forms falling into disarray under his pressure, Zhang Fang abruptly flicked his wrist and used the chain controlling his flying shield to tightly bind Bao Butong's sword-wielding right hand. He followed up with a vicious slap. Anticipating this, Bao Butong hurriedly raised his arm to protect his face, but Zhang Fang seized the opportunity to lock onto his wrist.

And thus, both of his hands were firmly immobilized by Zhang Fang's shield-wielding left hand.

Following that, Zhang Fang wound up his freed right hand and began a relentless series of left-and-right alternating slaps across Bao Butong's aged face.

"Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!..."

While striking, he chanted, "I'll teach you to run your dirty mouth! Teach you to run your dirty mouth! Teach you to run your dirty mouth!..."

This operation, which vastly boosted the prestige of the Beggars' Sect, drew wave after wave of thunderous cheers from the surrounding disciples. On the other side, seeing Bao Butong subjected to such brutal abuse, Yan Qingyun clenched his fists until they cracked, several times wanting to rush forward to rescue him, only to be held back each time by Yan Shanhe.

To think that this Murong Fu possessed such incredible self-restraint!

Since you can endure to this extent, I wonder if you will still be able to hold back when you watch Bao Butong die right before your eyes?

Thinking of this, Zhang Fang, having beaten him enough, suddenly whipped his left hand forward. While releasing Bao Butong's left pulse gate, he used a subtle burst of internal force to uncoil the iron chain wrapping around the other's right hand.

Before Bao Butong could recover from his dazed state, the steel shield in Zhang Fang's hand thrust forward horizontally, its sharp edge heading straight for Bao Butong's windpipe.

Seeing this, Yan Qingyun once again attempted to intervene and rescue him, only to be stopped by Yan Shanhe yet again.

Zhang Fang, who had been secretly observing the reactions of the two all along, experienced a sudden epiphany in his mind upon witnessing this scene. It seemed that his plan to use Bao Butong's life to force Murong Fu into exposing himself was fundamentally unviable from the very beginning.

Because regardless of whether the Murong Fu before him was possessed by a reincarnator, he had every reason to view Bao Butong's life and death with utter indifference!

To a reincarnator, Bao Butong's life and death were certainly far less important than their main quest. And even for the original Murong Fu, did he lack reasons to wish Bao Butong dead sooner rather than later?

Murong Fu had harbored grand dreams of restoring the Great Yan kingdom since childhood, which naturally required him to widely recruit talent and win people's hearts.

Yet what had Bao Butong been doing all these years?

With his peerless ability as a toxic complainer, how many former allies and subordinates had he literally talked into becoming enemies?

For Murong Fu to tolerate such a person until the very finale of the story was already a testament to his exceptional self-cultivation.

To summarize the above: the reason Bao Butong popped out to pick a fight today was either because Murong Fu had been possessed by a reincarnator and intended to use his own hands to get rid of Bao Butong, or because a reincarnator had suggested the exact same idea to Murong Fu, and the two had hit it off immediately.

In doing so, not only did they sweep away an internal stumbling block within the Murong family, but they also cast Zhang Fang as the mortal enemy of the entire Murong faction—leveraging external conflict to achieve a high degree of internal unity!

What a truly vicious plot to kill two birds with one stone!

Comprehending the crucial points in a split second, Zhang Fang made an immediate resolution.

This Bao Butong could not be killed just yet. Because a living Bao Butong was far more advantageous to him than a dead one.

Realizing this, Zhang Fang stopped his shield-blade, which was on the verge of severing Bao Butong's head, halting it at the very last moment. He altered the strike from a slash to a heavy blow, slamming the flat of the shield directly into Bao Butong's chest. The impact caused Bao Butong to spew a mouthful of blood, sending him crashing to the ground like a dead pig, unable to crawl back up for a long time.

Having delivered that shield strike, Zhang Fang finally ceased his pursuit. Looking down condescendingly at the battered, pig-headed Bao Butong, he snorted coldly, "I, You Tanzhi, am a righteous man of integrity, yet I lowered myself to trade blows with the likes of you. Killing you would only dirty my hands. Get lost!"

Pausing slightly, Zhang Fang still felt unsatisfied and added another remark: "Remember this well when walking the jianghu in the future: not everyone under heaven is your father, and not everyone will coddle you! If you want to live a little longer, you'd better learn to keep your mouth clean!"

At that moment, Bao Butong had been thoroughly beaten into a daze. How could he possibly register what was being said? He merely struggled to his feet and stumbled away toward the outer gates with unsteady steps.

That appearance was miserable beyond description.

At the same time, the Reincarnation Tower notification that Zhang Fang had been eagerly anticipating finally rang out:

[You have completed the hidden task "Brutally Beat the Toxic Complainer." Because your performance in this task was flawless, successfully striking both body and mind, your task reward has been significantly upgraded. Reward obtained: Ore Chest (Gold) x 1!]