Chen Mu wiped the blood from under his nose, and spit out a mouthful of bloody phlegm with force.
If it weren’t for the severe pain in his chest and innards, he would have burst into laughter.
“Impervious to swords and spears, yet I still managed to kill you!”
At that moment, a white figure caught his eye.
Chen Mu abruptly turned his head, a surge of murderous intent in his gaze.
Somehow, a person clad in a white coat was standing on the wall opposite him.
The person’s hair was disheveled, and their clothes were in disorder, obviously thrown on in a hurry.
In their right hand, they held a heavy-backed machete, their eyes bright and penetrating.
The eldest son of the Zuo Family—Zuo Sheng!
Facing Chen Mu’s lethal gaze, Zuo Sheng’s eyelids twitched, and he immediately raised his machete in a fist-and-palm salute, his voice grave, “Brother Chen!”
Chen Mu was startled, then remembered that this person was also one of Sheng Hong’s disciples.
Thinking of that cheap teacher of his own, whom he had turned into a sieve, he felt inwardly shaken.
Yet his face showed no sign of fear, as he stared expressionlessly at the other.
The atmosphere became tense.
Zuo Sheng felt a tingling on his scalp under Chen Mu’s stare and glanced at the Qian Shan who had been turned into a sieve, his heart skipping a beat.
He immediately softened his tone and, waving his hand, said, “Please feel free, Brother.”
Chen Mu nodded expressionlessly.
Then, under Zuo Sheng’s curious eyes, he went to the eaves, where he suddenly thrust his bloodied dagger into the wall.
Thump!
He pried a slightly deformed copper coin from within the wall.
Zuo Sheng: “…”
After that, Chen Mu, under Zuo Sheng’s increasingly strange gaze, began searching all over the courtyard.
He picked up every copper coin and silver piece that he had thrown out and that had been scattered by Qian Shan.
Watching Chen Mu’s thorough search.
Zuo Sheng couldn’t bear to watch any longer. He gave a bowed salute and excused himself, “Brother, take your time with your affairs. I must leave first, as I’m not properly dressed.”
Chen Mu nodded expressionlessly, not even glancing at the other.
After Zuo Sheng had jumped off the wall,
Chen Mu acted as if his rear was on fire.
He didn’t even bother with the silver pieces at his feet and hastily grabbed the corpses of Qian Shan and the pale-faced young man, leaping to the wall in two strides.
He pulled out the dagger stuck in the wall and flipped over the top.
Combining the Muscle Transformation and Sprint techniques, he leapt a few times and clumsily disappeared into the night.
Almost the instant Chen Mu vanished, Zuo Sheng jumped back onto the wall.
He glanced at the smattering of scattered copper coins and silver pieces, then at the disappearing figure in the distance, and couldn’t help but shake his head and chuckle, “He even managed to deceive me.”
“Such a pity for Qian Shan’s treasure…”
“Chasing might not guarantee catching up, and it’s uncertain whether he still has any trump cards…”
“Forget it.”
Zuo Sheng shook his head.
Looking at the blood on the ground, his expression darkened.
Why his cheap Brother Chen was here, he couldn’t fathom.
But Qian Shan visiting near their house late at night surely meant no good.
“We must move, we absolutely must!”
…
Like usual, Jie Jia walked into the backyard of Tianyi Studio.
A thick medicinal smell hit his nose.
He looked up to see Chen Mu beneath the pavilion, his entire body swollen and puffed up.
Jie Jia frowned, “Did you get into a fight? How are your injuries?”
Chen Mu waved his hand feebly, “I won’t die.”
Qian Shan must have had a higher martial arts level than himself.
Just a slap from him nearly cost Chen Mu half his life.
Then there was the extreme outburst where he unleashed the Qiankun Strike, straining all his muscles.
Now when he takes a breath, his entire body hurts.
“Who did this!” Jie Jia spoke with gravity.
“A round-faced Taoist,” Chen Mu sighed.
Jie Jia had a look of murderous intent, “I’ll go and kill him!”
Chen Mu brightly asked, “For free?!”
Jie Jia’s eyelids drooped, and he returned to his expressionless facade, slowly taking a seat under the pavilion as if nothing had just occurred.
Chen Mu instantly gave a small laugh.
I knew it.
The old guy acts so passionately, yet he still just wants to make money off of me!
…
After eating, the two sat in the pavilion and chatted idly.
“Is there any martial arts that can make one impervious to knives and spears?” Chen Mu asked.
His Iron Lotus Seeds were comparable to handguns.
Yet that round-faced Taoist actually blocked them with his bare hands!
By the stone table, Jie Jia was holding a bamboo tube cup, slowly sipping chilled tea through a white barley straw.
“There are.”
“Where can I learn that?”
Snoring…
Jie Jia leisurely sipped his iced tea.
Chen Mu, feeling dejected, took out a piece of silver worth about half a tael and placed it on the table.
Jie Jia pinched it and deftly rolled it into a silver bead before slipping it into his cuff.
“Didn’t your master tell you? The Shape Cultivation Technique can make one invulnerable to swords and spears,” Jie Jia said indifferently.
Chen Mu looked at Jie Jia skeptically.
He only knew that the Shape Cultivation Technique involved three transformations: Muscle Transformation, Bone Transformation, and Marrow Transformation.
Chen Mu felt his increasingly tough skin.
With Muscle and Bone Transformation, there was an added layer of special tissue beneath the skin—his defense had indeed increased.
But, to say he could, like the round-faced Taoist, block bullets with his bare hands—that was hard!
Jie Jia’s eyes moved, glancing at Chen Mu with an expression akin to looking at a country bumpkin.
“Ten years of Shape Cultivation, a hundred years to nurture the soul.”
“Only once you cultivate your Soul Strength can you become impervious to blades and spears.”
Soul Strength? What the hell is that?
“The person who injured you, are they not afraid of swords?” Jie Jia looked at Chen Mu with suspicion: “How did you survive?”
Chen Mu: “…”
Not only did I survive, but I also killed that bastard!
“Once the Shape Cultivation Technique is mastered, there’s a chance to cultivate the Wandering Soul.”
“Depending on the Shape Cultivation Technique, certain parts of the skin may develop a black membrane like steel armor. Once activated, it can slice through mountains and become impervious to blades and spears.”
“A master can move the Wandering Soul throughout their body, indirectly making them immune to blades and spears.”
Chen Mu was taken aback.
Last night was dark, and he hadn’t noticed.
Now that he recalled, the palms of the round-faced Taoist did indeed appear black and dark.
No wonder a single sweep from him cost me half my life.
If it weren’t for the Mesmerizing Divine Incense, the consequences…
Was this the power of the Wandering Soul?
“Don’t even think about it,” Jie Jia said, glancing at Chen Mu in a discouraging manner.
“The chances of mastering the Shape Cultivation Technique are one in a thousand.”
“To cultivate Soul Strength, it’s one in ten thousand.”
“If your Shape Cultivation Technique’s rank is high enough, it might be possible, but with Red Falcon Shape Cultivation Technique…”
“Tsk, tsk…” Jie Jia shook his head with a look of pity.
Chen Mu said unwillingly, “Isn’t there any other way?”
Jie Jia’s eyes moved, fixed on the left cuff of Chen Mu’s sleeve.
“I have a very advanced Shape Cultivation Technique.”
“If you switch to it, there’s a good chance you’ll develop Soul Strength,” Jie Jia said, subtly tempting.
“Really?!” Chen Mu was brimming with excitement.
“Guaranteed genuine!” Jie Jia swore confidently.
Chen Mu looked at Jie Jia with hope: “Can I put it on credit?”
Jie Jia: “…”
Go hang out wherever it’s cool!
He had figured it out; this little bastard was mocking him again!
Chen Mu happily sipped on his chilled tea.
Red Falcon Shape Cultivation Technique is lousy?
But he had the proficiency cheat!
Whether it’s lousy or not, we’ll see when I max it out.
…
Having sent away the morose Jie Jia,
Chen Mu struggled to return to the shelter of the pavilion.
Last night, he was too agitated to feel much.
Today, his injuries had fully flared up, and moving even a little bit was painful.
“I can’t travel long distances like this,” Chen Mu frowned in thought.
After killing the round-faced Taoist, he wanted to get away from Qingshan County even more.
But with his injuries, he couldn’t possibly make a long journey.
“I’ll just have to recover first.”
With a thought, he called up the proficiency panel for his gray wall technique.
Writing: 1666/10000/Second Rank;
Painting: 1533/10000/Second Rank;
Throwing: 7553/10000/Third Rank;
Red Falcon Shape Cultivation: 4009/10000/Third Rank;
Cooking: 8926/10000/First Rank;
Pharmaceutical Technique: 4852/10000/Second Rank;
Sleeve Sword Technique: 816/10000/Third Rank;
“Thank goodness I leveled up the Sleeve Sword Technique to Third Rank ahead of time.”
“Without the Qiankun Strike, that paper doll would have cost me my old life!”