Phew!
The wooden lid of the iron pot on the stove was pulled by a whistling wind, swiftly crossing the courtyard, and suddenly appeared in front of Chen Mu.
With a casual flick, the lid spun towards the top of the opposite wall, striking off an Iron Lotus Seed with a bang, then arced through the air, and flew back in front of Chen Mu once more.
Chen Mu’s eyes couldn’t help but shine with excitement.
Qi Forbidden Hundred Miles?
No, this is telekinesis, this is controlling objects through space!
With a thought, the lid whirred back to the stove again.
A jet-black Dagger materialized in his hands. Then, slowly floating in the air, it zipped away and vanished.
The next moment, a series of shadows revolved and soared around Chen Mu.
“Ha!”
“This is freaking Sword Control Technique!”
Chen Mu trembled with excitement.
The thought of Flying Swords and Taking Lives from a Thousand Miles away swamped his mind.
Unable to hold back any longer, he shouted, “Go!”
Bang!
A puff of white smoke exploded in the air as the Ebony Dagger swiftly flew ten meters away, and then… and then it stopped moving.
Chen Mu: “…”
At that speed, shouldn’t it have disappeared over the horizon?
He had already braced himself for the possibility of not finding it if it flew too far. But…
“Let’s try again!” Chen Mu was not ready to give up. His dream of a Flying Sword couldn’t end here!
“Go!”
Bang!
The Ebony Dagger shot out. Then Chen Mu felt like he heard a series of urgent braking noises.
Screech!
It stopped again, just ten meters away.
Chen Mu: “…”
…
After a while, he reluctantly accepted the reality.
Qi Forbidden Hundred Miles? Ha! More like Qi Forbidden Ten Meters!
Chen Mu was annoyed. The dream of the Flying Sword, gone…
Qi Forbidden Hundred Miles seemed like an all-encompassing, invisible palm.
Anything within a ten-meter radius could give him a clear tactile feedback. He could pick them up whenever he wanted to.
But beyond ten meters, there was no way.
It was like his hand could quickly thrust the Ebony Dagger forward. But once it reached the limit of his arm’s length, the Ebony Dagger had no choice but to stop.
“Well, that’s alright,” shrugged Chen Mu.
“At least life is more convenient,” he mused as he lay in his rocking chair. Kitchen utensils by the stove on the western wall started cooking on their own.
A brown wooden cup on the low table slowly floated to his lips, and Chen Mu comfortably took a sip of cold tea.
“Comfortable…”
“This operation feels somewhat familiar.” Chen Mu skillfully controlled the spatula to stir, a sense of déjà vu flashing through his mind.
“Five Ghosts Bag?” Chen Mu suddenly realized.
Moving external objects utilizes the Teleportation ability of the Five Ghosts Bag to “shrink the universe into a mustard seed.”
When maneuvering internal items, it is the Qi Forbidden Hundred Miles of the Five Ghosts Yin Spirit that’s used.
“No wonder this Qi Forbidden Hundred Miles feels so natural,” understood Chen Mu.
Long before his awakening, he had used this ability countless times.
“Cui Cui…” Chen Mu sighed.
To this day, he couldn’t forget the terror of being dominated and controlled by Cui Cui.
“All thanks to the Cloud Mirage Spirit Armor Technique.” Chen Mu had also come to a realization.
The only reason he was able to break free from the Qi Forbidden Hundred Miles was that the Cloud Mirage Spirit Armor Technique inherently possessed that ability.
Its initial triggering, combined with his body strengthened by seven Shape Cultivation Techniques, was what barely secured him a chance at life.
“I wonder how those people from Da Liang are doing,” he mused.
Cheng Yi, Cheng Ming, Bai Miaojin, Cui Cui, Zuo Sheng, Tu Shan, each one a prodigy in their own right!
“Most likely, they’re somewhere writing new legendary stories,” Chen Mu speculated with a yearning tone.
After all, a homebody might occasionally feel the urge to show off in public.
“Um… of course, there’s also the possibility of farming in some places or even the more miserable job of mining.”
Chen Mu couldn’t help but laugh.
“That image must be hilarious, haha…”
…
On the edge of the Gengyin District.
Two figures were walking slowly on a wide dirt road.
On both sides of the road were knee-high patches of grass, flanking large fields of Yellow Bud Rice.
“There seems to be a courtyard over there,” Ai Ji said, shading his eyes with his hand, looking toward a nearby Low Mountain.
He then took out a Bright Yellow Scroll from his chest and unfurled it to examine it.
“According to the records, he’s a new disciple. Hey! He’s even a wild man from the Border Wilderness Island.”
“The poorest of the poor!” Ai Ji curled his lip: “Shall we take a look?”
“This is the Gengyin District,” Xu Rao said, his expression calm, his indifferent eyes shaded by the hood’s shadow.
“Zhang Tu’an, before he died half a month ago, seemed to have been recruiting newbies in the Gengyin District to join the Purple Bamboo Society,” Ai Ji’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“He had someone contact Zheng Jin to sell information, could it have something to do with the newbies of the Gengyin District?”
“And then, on the day of the meeting, Zheng Jin died, and so did Zhang Tu’an.”
“Do you think the person who killed Zheng Jin could be here in the Gengyin District, could he be a new disciple who’s pretending to be weak?”
Ai Ji looked at the courtyard on the mountain in the distance: “Should we go take a look?”
Xu Rao’s steps were steady, his thin lips slightly parted: “This is the Gengyin District.”
“So what?” Ai Ji frowned, staring at Xu Rao, not understanding.
“So, you’re right.”
“So, that person is very likely a new disciple.”
“So, he might also live in the nearby courtyard.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” Ai Ji’s eyes lit up.
Xu Rao’s eyes moved slightly, glancing at Ai Ji: “Can you beat Zheng Jin?”
“Give me time to gather strength, and I could punch him into mush, the mushiest mush!” Ai Ji said proudly.
“But Zheng Jin would have turned you into mush before you finished gathering strength, the mushiest mush!”
“So what!” Ai Ji said, his face flushed with chagrin.
“So, Zheng Jin is dead,” Xu Rao said calmly, continuing to walk.
Then, without paying any more attention to Ai Ji, he walked away.
Ai Ji stood still for a moment, shrugged his shoulders, and followed: “Forget it, I want to live a few more years.”
…
Three days later, on the Ling Boat.
Chen Mu, as usual, came to the Imperial Goods Pavilion and sold twenty bottles of Calming Pills.
Because of the continuous shortage of tube night grass, the price of Calming Pills had risen again.
He sold twenty bottles for twenty-four Calming Pills.
Pleased, Chen Mu turned and entered the Red Sleeve Square.
“I’m mainly here to gather information, absolutely not to watch the beautiful dancers,” Chen Mu swore earnestly.
…
The first floor of the Red Sleeve Square was a square hall with a circular stage over ten meters in diameter at the center.
Around this stage, booths of various sizes were arranged.
“Utterly unoriginal.” Chen Mu sneered, unimpressed by the layout of the Red Sleeve Square.
Apart from the venue being larger, the lighting more dazzling, and the layout somewhat novel, everything else was no different from an ordinary brothel.
“It’s just these sisters… no, it’s this big ball that’s kind of interesting,” Chen Mu looked up into the air.
Above the stage, a huge transparent ball formed by a secret technique floated out of thin air.
The surface of the ball occasionally rippled gently, and at a glance, it looked like a massive water bubble.
At that moment, the ball was displaying an image.
It showed a group of sultry dancers with pointy ears, fiery red hair, tall figures, scantily clad, constantly moving their bodies.
They were dancing right below the ball, their figures magnified several times by it, ensuring that customers in all directions could clearly see every strand of their hair.
“They’re beautiful… cough cough, I mean this ball is,” said Chen Mu.
“What secret technique is being used, I wonder?”
“I should take a closer look!”