A month later, in a small mountain hollow.
The setting sun cast the ground in a blaze of golden yellow.
A shadow swiftly streaked across this golden canvas.
In the sky, Chen Mu sat cross-legged on a flying kite, his hands gripping the connecting rods that linked to the wings.
Leaning slightly to the right, the flying kite immediately traced a graceful arc, as natural as a hawk or falcon changing direction.
After circling above the small hollow for over ten minutes, feeling a sense of emptiness emerge from between his eyebrows, Chen Mu adjusted the angle of the flying kite, making it glide downward slowly until it hovered a meter above the ground.
“Done,” Chen Mu chuckled, looking at the brand-new entries on the gray wall.
Manipulation: 1236/10000/First Rank;
He had been practicing flying every afternoon for the past few days.
The time he was supposed to be practicing the Void Cloak Technique, he had temporarily set aside.
After all, this was real flying.
“If only I had a bit more mana,” Chen Mu lamented.
After he mastered the Cloud Mirage Spirit Armor Technique, a core formed between his eyebrows, where he could store mana.
But it was ultimately limited. After half an hour of continuous manipulation of the kite, his mana would be exhausted.
“Once I master the Illusion Breaking Technique, I should be able to increase the time a bit,” Chen Mu looked forward to it.
…
Deep within the unfathomable Tongtian River, a few rays of sunlight penetrated underwater.
They shone on the pale and fierce shell of the Ling Boat, creating mottled patches of light.
Whirlpools appeared and disappeared around the Ling Boat, smoothing out the undercurrents and pushing the boat steadily forward.
In the cabin of Right Qi Bing Chen Number.
Lin Su sat cross-legged on the left side of the soft couch, with a bright yellow silk scroll placed on the low table in front of him.
The scroll was a map of the Lower Courtyard of Jilong Road, with place names labeled in black lettering, along with dozens of names distributed around the map, each marked especially with a cinnabar pen.
“The Daoist Seal disappeared here,” Lin Su pointed a red dot on the map.
“With the Daoist Seal gone, the Round Light Mirror can’t indicate the exact location, but it can still point out the direction.”
He carefully remembered and drew an arrow, pointing in the direction indicated by the Daoist Seal before it vanished.
“Mo Wuzhou isn’t exactly on this line; his actual position is a bit further south,” Lin Su fixed his gaze on Mo Wuzhou’s name encircled in red.
Their last encounter convinced him that Mo Wuzhou truly knew nothing about the Exquisite Jade Plate.
“If it’s not him, then…” Lin Su’s eyes moved to the end of the line.
“Chen Mu?”
“A newly initiated disciple? A person from the Border Wilderness Island?”
“Heh…” Lin Su let out a cold laugh.
“Killing and seizing treasures without restraint in the Lower Courtyard really fits the behavior of someone from the Border Wilderness Island,” Lin Su thought resentfully.
“Being able to dispel the Daoist Seal doesn’t necessarily mean Perceptive Spirit Light.”
“It could also be a Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Technique,” Lin Su realized.
“Those who come from the Border Wilderness Island most likely have some inferior bloodline.”
“Practicing Spirit Armor Technique is not uncommon.”
At the time, he excluded Chen Mu because the latter’s time exchanging for the Spiritual Light Technique was too short; it was impossible to master it in just a few months.
But if Chen Mu had trained in Spirit Armor, that would explain everything.
It was also his own impatience; he had only initially determined the direction, and upon learning that Mo Wuzhou had mastered Perceptive Spirit Light, he hastily fixated on him.
“This time…” Lin Su looked coldly at Chen Mu’s name.
…
At night, Chen Mu crawled out from the Underground Secret Chamber.
He took a bamboo cylinder as tall as a forearm from the warm wooden tub on the stove, containing a milky beverage he had specially concocted.
He used a straw of pearl millet as a drinking straw.
Chen Mu reclined in a rocking chair, slurping while looking up at the sky.
“I wonder what the arena is like. Can it compare to my White Jade Plate?” Chen Mu couldn’t help but think of Old Hao and Shang Huan.
This year, the two had saved enough money to visit the Upper Court of Jilong Road together for cultivation by borrowing the power of a Daoist arena.
“I would like to see it too,” Chen Mu glanced at the little over a hundred White Jade Coins he had, “What a pity…”
“Shang Huan is unlikely, but Old Hao might have some hope of completing the practice of Perceptive Spirit Light,” Chen Mu estimated quietly.
After all, the old man had been practicing it for many years.
“Talent, ah…” Chen Mu sighed.
Those with poor aptitude attracted and refined Earth Spirit Vital Energy inefficiently and slowly.
To complete their metamorphosis, Jade Seeds required more time.
And that was where Old Hao was stuck.
With a thought, Chen Mu pulled up his proficiency.
Writing: 7311/10000/Second Rank;
Drawing: 5967/10000/Second Rank;
Cooking: 1545/10000/Fifth Rank;
Pharmaceutical Technique: 6367/10000/Fifth Rank;
Five Ghosts Moving Mountain Curse: 1986/10000/Eighth Rank;
Shape-shifting Technique: 7297/10000/Fourth Rank;
Planting: 5733/10000/Third Rank;
Void Cloak Technique: 1305/10000/Third Rank;
United Heart Curse: 9997/10000/Seventh Rank;
Fire Cloud Curse: 5630/10000/First Rank;
Hundred Intentions Illusion Breaking Technique: 3903/10000;
Manipulation: 1236/10000/First Rank;
Chen Mu scanned through one by one.
“The United Heart Curse is about to advance to the next rank? Not bad.”
“Reciting it a few times before sleeping every night has proven quite effective,” Chen Mu nodded in satisfaction, “I’ll max it out later.”
“The Illusion Breaking Technique, unsurprisingly, needs to be continued,” Chen Mu shrugged his shoulders.
So what if training speed is slow? The Hundred Intentions Spirit Light Technique was also slow, and yet he managed to level it to its peak.
“The Manipulation skill has made the list, and piloting the flying kite is sufficient, it can be put aside for now,” Chen Mu plotted secretly, “I need to reschedule the Void Cloak Technique.”
His previous training of flying kites was at the expense of the cultivation time for the Void Cloak Technique.
“The rest are still far from leveling up, just keep practicing,” Chen Mu calmly closed the grey wall.
He sipped his straw, draining the warm milk tea in one gulp, and Chen Mu got up to wash.
Before going to sleep, Chen Mu recited the United Heart Curse.
After a few rounds, a special understanding surged into his mind.
His grasp on the United Heart Rope became clearer, and he even vaguely perceived where the United Heart Gu were located.
“Seems like it has some new features.”
“Forget it, better not to get involved with those six siblings.”
“It’s good enough to tie my hair, who needs a bicycle.”
“Sleep. Time to sleep!”
…
In the Xinyou District, at Lu Ku’s residence.
While flipping through the ledger, Lu Ku’s body shook violently, and a deep hum suddenly emanated from within him.
“Finally, it’s here.” Lu Ku felt somewhat relieved, now he could give up completely.
Then Lu Ku continued with his bookkeeping, without giving it another thought.
Almost half a year had passed, and he had come to understand that Gongsun Sheng really didn’t care for them.
Your journey continues at empire
“This is good, too. No dealings with either side, more carefree,” Lu Ku thought calmly.
…
Half a month later.
Chen Mu carefully moved a seedling of the night grass from the wooden cultivation tank.
After a long while, Chen Mu sat in a rocking chair, contentedly watching the neatly planted night grass under the west wall.
“About ninety plants should survive,” Chen Mu said with a smile on his face, “Even if I increase the number of Calming Pills, it should be enough to last half a year.”
Thinking this, Chen Mu cast a glance at the White Jade Plate inside the Five Ghosts Bag.
Three days before, Chen Mu had discovered that the White Jade Plate was quietly using up three White Jade Coins a day.
“I should have thought of this earlier,” Chen Mu sighed.
Perceptive Illusion Breaking is training to develop mana.
It’s only natural that the consumption of Earth Spirit Vital Energy increases.
“One hundred and eight bottles of Calming Pills, subtracting the cost, should net about ninety-one White Jade Coins. That would just about break even with the expenses,” Chen Mu calculated silently.
“Sell fifty to Shang Huan, the rest I’ll hand over to Le Yang’an of the Imperial Goods Pavilion.”
Two years on, Chen Mu confirmed that these two channels were basically safe.
“If it weren’t for Qi Forbidden Hundred Miles, this job would really be difficult!” Chen Mu calculated briefly and couldn’t help but be astounded.
Over a hundred bottles, that meant more than four thousand Calming Pills, and the raw materials mixed together would need a large vat.
Each pill had to be pressed individually, a monotonous and time-consuming task.
“When I have time, I need to pay attention to alchemy.”
“Work with a high technological content is more profitable.”