“`
Chaos had come without warning.
Chen Mu’s expression looked ugly as he watched the direction in which the black dragon had disappeared.
Jilong Road must have been attacked.
He stood on the fishbone boat, moving slightly closer to the dock. Then, he released the Five Ghosts Yin Spirit to scout the area.
Looking down from the sky, the scene of destruction and chaos came into view.
Half of Low Mountain on the north side of Tongtian Square had been leveled. The wooden Taoist temple that stood on the cliff had also completely vanished.
The dock and Tongtian Square were in complete disarray.
A group of over two-meter-tall burly men, each with distinctive exotic traits, were engaged in a fierce battle with people from the Lower Courtyard of Jilong Road.
Among them was Director Song Song Wujie.
His opponent was a huge hulking man two and a half meters tall, with external fanged teeth and arms covered in black hair, his muscular build more akin to an ape than a human.
Shrouded in swirling black smoke, the man was enduring Song Wujie’s insect swarm attacks and pounding away at Song Wujie’s Body Protection Aura with his fists.
“Are these people all cultivating the Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Technique?”
“Zhongshan Path, maybe?”
At that moment, Song Wujie’s Body Protection Aura was shaking violently, and it seemed he was completely powerless to fight back.
“Director Song is in danger!” Chen Mu’s expression grew even uglier.
Is Jilong Road about to fall?
Without delay, he urged the fishbone boat to move, distancing himself from the Lower Courtyard by more than ten miles, before finding a secluded river bend to drop anchor and stop.
“Let’s wait and see,” Chen Mu sighed.
In such chaotic battles, one could lose their life if not careful, and he did not want to get involved.
“It remains to be seen whether Jilong Road’s Lower Courtyard will survive the disaster or if Zhongshan Path will break through.”
“It was finally peaceful for two years, sigh…”
…
Stay updated through empire
The attack occurred at dusk.
Soon, the sky was completely darkened.
From the sky, battles erupted throughout the Lower Courtyard.
In the distant mountains, occasional flashes of fire and muffled thunder-like sounds could be heard.
The defensive enchantment’s nodes in the Lower Courtyard were clearly also under attack.
Not until the moon was high in the sky, did a loud boom explode over the Lower Courtyard.
Even Chen Mu, floating on the Tongtian River, could feel the tremors of the land.
At the same time, several thunderous cracks resounded in the sky.
Chen Mu looked up and saw, under the moonlight, black rifts emerging in the sky.
He had seen this sight before; a similar scene had happened in the southern sky when the exotic beast had invaded.
“Enchantment?” Chen Mu’s face changed.
Is Jilong Road finished?!
Just as Chen Mu was about to flee on his fishbone boat.
“Song Wujie!” A voice full of anger and unwillingness interrupted Chen Mu’s actions.
Above the Lower Courtyard of Jilong Road, two silhouettes clashed back and forth.
Bursts of luminescence flickered in the misty clouds like relentless thunder.
Very quickly, the battle came to an abrupt end.
The black ape-like man let out a howl.
The disciples of Zhongshan Path who were fighting everywhere within the Lower Courtyard quickly withdrew from the battle, assembling towards Tongtian Square.
Before long, they all departed by boat.
“What…” Chen Mu was puzzled.
Haven’t they already broken through the defenses? Why did they suddenly retreat?
But at the same time, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Clearly, Director Song Wujie had taken some action that made Zhongshan Path completely abandon the attack.
“Good, that’s good…” Chen Mu was immensely relieved.
He was living a stable life in the Lower Courtyard and did not want to fall into chaos.
After observing for a while longer and confirming the withdrawal of Zhongshan Path’s personnel, he quietly approached the dock and went ashore, blending into the bustling crowd busy with firefighting and repairing.
…
“The Director has ordered that all disciples of the Lower Courtyard return to their positions,”
“Tomorrow morning, assemble in your respective sectors.”
“`
“`
“If anyone causes trouble amidst the chaos, kill on sight.”
Clad in grey, the patrol officers shouted as they quickly moved through Tongtian Square and into the various parts of the Lower Courtyard to relay orders and maintain order.
“Did we make it through?” Chen Mu hid among the crowd and breathed a sigh of relief.
He didn’t dare to wander around Tongtian Square and hurried towards the Gengyin District as soon as he left.
Fearing that he might be caught by any Inspection Courtyard officer whose animosity hadn’t subsided.
“We’ll probably know the specifics by tomorrow.”
…
Chen Mu was floating two meters off the ground, sitting cross-legged on the Five Ghosts Yin Spirit, concealed from view.
The Void Cloak Technique activated, propelling him quickly towards the Gengyin District.
The other Five Ghosts patrolled the skies nearby, fearing they might be ambushed by any lingering Zhongshan Path disciples.
Soon, the ruins of a collapsed building caught Chen Mu’s attention.
Next to the debris on the ground lay two mangled corpses.
One had cow horns on its head and lizard-like claws for hands; it had been cleaved in half at the waist.
The cut was neat and charred, with surprisingly little blood spilt.
Another in grey, with a ragged outfit, had a large hole in the neck, blood pooled on the ground around it.
“Is this someone who cultivated the Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Technique?” Chen Mu stared at the horned person.
“Cultivating oneself towards a Heavenly Demon’s direction?”
“That dragon…” A terrifying thought suddenly dawned on Chen Mu.
Could that dragon actually be the result of human cultivation?!
To turn oneself into a dragon?
Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Technique… Marvelous!
If only I could…
It took a while for the excited Chen Mu to come back to his senses.
“Secret Techniques of that level are not within my reach,” Chen Mu shook his head and sighed, looking at the man in the grey ragged outfit with complexity.
A simple farmer, yet met with unexpected disaster.
The dream of pursuing the Dao shattered in an instant.
“Thankfully, I was hiding on the Tongtian River,” Chen Mu was still frightened.
This man in the grey ragged outfit certainly wasn’t the only one. It was unknown how many Lower Courtyard disciples perished in the attack.
“You are pitiful too,” Chen Mu couldn’t help but feel empathy for the underdog.
Qi Forbidden Hundred Miles kicked in, and a large pit was dug out of the ground.
“Dust to dust, earth to earth,” Chen Mu sighed.
He glanced at the horned person once more.
“Although an invader, to be brave and fight ruthlessly wasn’t your true intention, everything was just for the pursuit of the Dao,” Chen Mu didn’t condone such barbaric acts, but he understood.
“Forget it, no matter the grudges in life, they’re all erased after death,” Chen Mu also dug a grave for the horned person and buried them.
Looking at the two mounds of earth, he sighed, “You should be thankful that you met me, otherwise no one would have taken care of your bodies.”
After a moment of silence, Chen Mu turned away with a look of compassion towards the faintly burning lights of Jilong Road’s Lower Courtyard in the distance.
“The chaos came so unexpectedly.”
“Who knows how many innocents lost their lives.”
“Their paths to longevity abruptly ceased.”
“Whether simple farmers or invading Zhongshan Path disciples, they all just wanted to move forward.”
“Resources are scarce, Secret Techniques monopolized, hardship strikes, and the pursuit of dreams turns out to be so luxurious and difficult!”
Thinking about the hardships he had faced all the way from Da Liang, Chen Mu was filled with sorrow.
“This damned world always deals a sudden, crushing blow, smoothing out people’s edges, making them mediocre.”
A great courage surged within Chen Mu.
“Dreams should not remain silent!”
So he hooked his right hand, and the grey coin pouch he had just taken from the two bodies lifted into the air.
Throwing it into the Five Ghosts Bag with a serious and determined face, he addressed the two graves, “I will carry on your dreams of pursuing the Dao, step by step, unwaveringly!”
Then he reached the ruins of the buildings, smoke billowing and seeping into the crevices, and collected all the valuables.
“Not just these two, but all of them!” Chen Mu turned, looking determinedly at the entire Lower Courtyard.
“Rest assured, from today onwards, I will bear your dreams!”
“No matter how heavy or secret those dreams may be, I will definitely unearth them, carry them on me at all times, continuously move forward, and never stop!”
“`