Inside the camp nestled against the mountain wall.
Tu Shan, carrying a wild boar from the forest, came walking and threw it down in front of Chen Mu with a thud.
“Why didn’t you run?” Chen Mu looked at the two-meter tall, burly man in surprise.
“I’m afraid you poisoned me, and if I ran off and the poison took effect, what would happen if I died?” Tu Shan said earnestly.
Chen Mu: “…”
“You have enlightened me!” Chen Mu’s face lit up with realization, as he looked at Tu Shan with gratitude, “It’s always good to have some measures of restraint.”
Tu Shan: “…”
Chen Mu chuckled lightly, taking his time to enjoy the meat.
Despite the burly man’s quick surrender, as if truly under his control, he definitely had unknown cards up his sleeve.
He simply didn’t want a fight to the death.
If Chen Mu had actually dared to stab at his heart, the burly man would have really dared to blow his head off.
Chen Mu similarly did not want a fight to the death. Thus, the two of them reached an impasse.
“How about I hunt for you and you cook for me?” Tu Shan suggested, smiling.
He just wanted a decent place to eat and sleep, and this campsite was just right.
“Not so good,” Chen Mu shook his head. Staying in was much more comfortable for him.
“I can help you fend off unnecessary troubles, especially those from noble families,” Tu Shan pointed towards the main peak of Shouyang Mountain in the distance.
“If I could find this place, those people in the palace over there probably can too.”
“My reputation as a ‘Magic Ape’ still carries weight with the noble families,” Tu Shan said confidently.
Chen Mu raised an eyebrow, “That might not be too bad.”
With Tu Shan’s help to ward off external troubles, he could peacefully remain in seclusion for the next two or three months.
“Then it’s settled!” Tu Shan laughed heartily.
“We’ve forged a relationship through a fight,” Tu Shan said unabashedly, as he pinched a large piece of meat from the grill and threw it into his mouth, “Great culinary skills!”
As he chewed heartily, he scrutinized Chen Mu.
He had felt a lethal threat in just one exchange, but the threat had not come from the dagger; there had to be a follow-up move!
This was a master whose skill was no less than his, yet so much younger!
Where did he spring from?
With curiosity, Tu Shan asked, “My name is Tu Shan, and yours?”
“I am called Cheng Yi,” Chen Mu lied with a deadpan face.
Tu Shan’s face darkened on the spot, almost believing him for a second.
“I know Cheng Yi!”
Chen Mu: “…”
Now this was awkward.
After a moment of thought, Chen Mu said unfazedly, “Sorry, I misspoke, my name is Cheng Ming.”
As if afraid Tu Shan wouldn’t believe him, he earnestly explained further, “Cheng Yi is my senior brother, we often exchange Taoist names for fun.”
Tu Shan: “…”
You really think I would believe that!
…
“What was the deal with that move earlier? I should have been able to catch it, right?” Tu Shan casually probed while voraciously eating meat, still puzzled.
Chen Mu glanced at him, not understanding? Keep wondering!
He pulled out the grey interface and looked at the Sleeve Sword Technique, marked as having reached its limit. His heart immediately swelled with a full sense of accomplishment.
“The Sleeve Sword Technique has reached the top as well.”
“Another maxed-out skill, how wonderful!”
Just like the precision granted by Throwing Mastery, the Sleeve Sword Technique also bestowed upon him a predictive ability.
Using his own cognition as material, after automatic analysis by the subconscious mind, it enabled him to predict an opponent’s actions and thereby discover their weaknesses.
“A fine ability.”
Like throwing’s lock-on, the strength of this ability depends on one’s own power and their knowledge of the opponent.
If the opponent vastly exceeds his knowledge, this ability would be useless.
But at an equal level of combat, having predictive ability almost guaranteed an invincible position.
“At least I don’t have to delve into learning various combat techniques anymore,” Chen Mu thought jubilantly.
The manual he had bought for several dozens of silver on the black market had allowed him to reach this level, what more could he ask for? He felt like he could wake up laughing from his sleep.
…
In the year 642 of Da Liang, on September 25th.
Below a cliff on the eastern side of Shouyang Mountain, there was a hidden crevice that extended into the interior of the cliff.
Chen Mu was surrounded by billowing black smoke, floating a couple of meters above the sea surface as if by magic. Experience more content on empire
A single paper effigy could only lift him half a meter off the ground. But two could make him float more than a meter. With five paper effigies all exerting their force together, he could even float five meters up in the air!
“Looks like I can fly now!” Chen Mu thought gleefully.
He controlled the Five Ghosts to carry him, circling round and round within this narrow gap.
Although the fastest speed was only about the same as a galloping horse, and not faster than his own running.
But… this was flying!
After whirling around for quite a while, having his fill of fun, Chen Mu finally lowered his altitude to hang a meter above the sea surface.
At this moment, the originally serene blue sea was covered with a carpet of white, drunken fish.
“Let’s hope this doesn’t actually summon the Sea Dragon King,” Chen Mu chuckled to himself.
The next moment, black smoke billowed across the sea surface.
“Five Ghosts Moving Mountain!”
Large swathes of fish immediately vanished from sight.
Inside the Five Ghosts Bag, a droplet the size of a mung bean and as red as a palace lantern slowly condensed.
Feeling the struggle and unwillingness from the Five Ghosts, Chen Mu strived to block the surge of voracious desire flooding his mind.
In just three breaths, the sea surface returned to its tranquil blue.
Chen Mu stopped the Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse, took a deep breath, and glared at the black smoke irritably, “If it weren’t for preparing food for you, would I suffer this much?”
Sailing on the sea without knowing the situation, he needed to prepare food for the Five Ghosts Bag in advance.
The palace lantern red that concentrated the essence of the Three Treasures was energy-rich and took up little space. A single droplet was sufficient to sustain the Five Ghosts Bag for quite some time.
…
Inside the camp on the mountain wall.
“Do you know anything about overseas matters?” Chen Mu inquired casually during mealtime.
Tu Shan had been domineering in Da Liang for decades, making even prestigious families dare not speak out against him; perhaps he knew some exclusive information.
“It’s just another place, nothing different,” Tu Shan said indifferently.
“Just some additional methods for later-stage cultivation.”
“No matter where you are, it’s the fist that does the talking.”
Chen Mu couldn’t help but nod. This brute saw things quite clearly.
“There is a bit of a difference though,” Tu Shan thought for a moment before saying.
“I’ve heard that some places are extremely chaotic. The strong act without restraint, and some, in order to refine magic artifacts, wouldn’t hesitate to kill tens of thousands.”
Chen Mu furrowed his brows. If he really went to such places where human life was regarded as grass, one never knew when disaster might strike.
“Isn’t there a safer place?”
“Of course there is,” Tu Shan shrugged his shoulders.
“Da Liang is so chaotic, yet Shen Jing remains stable.”
“But we don’t have Daoist Bone, so we can’t go to many good places,” Tu Shan added with a smirk.
“I’ve heard that those of us with Shell Soul have to work for others once we get there?” Chen Mu asked, his brow slightly furrowed.
He was not averse to being a worker, but if he ended up in a land of chaos, that might not be an easy job.
“Yes, and it’s a full twenty years of unpaid labor at that!” Tu Shan said with a sense of frustration.
He had been unfettered in Da Liang, but going overseas, he’d end up as a long-term laborer.
“It’s all set before you even board the ship. Once you go, there’s no escaping it.”
Tu Shan narrowed his eyes, his fists cracking as he clenched them: “And I don’t even know how hard my future employer’s bones will be.”
“You’d really dare to strike? I don’t believe they don’t have any countermeasures?” Chen Mu retorted.
“Supposedly, you have to be stamped,” Tu Shan scratched his head.
Stamped?
“I guess it must be some kind of magic artifact. Something that marks you, so that even if you run, you can be tracked,” he speculated.
Chen Mu came to a realization.
Isn’t it just like using the Soul-Calming Stake to search for a Water Droplet Copper Piece or the Heartless Bell for tracking?
They were planning to fit people with a magic artifact tracker?
Tsk tsk… Life overseas doesn’t seem easy at all.