Chapter 148: Meeting the Heretic Again

Retreating more than ten meters away, Li Mu tried to persuade him once more, but the drunkard remained as foolish as ever, offering no response whatsoever.

There was no use in trying to advise someone who was no longer in his right mind. Perhaps, in his current state, this sort of abandon was a form of release for the drunkard.

Li Mu said no more, turned around, and left.

He had no way of knowing when the four fleeing cultivators from the Bright Jade Valley might return. Earlier, he had seen very clearly that at least two of them were in the late stage of the Vein Condensation Realm. If they were to cross paths, the drunkard might still be able to escape if he wished, but Li Mu lacked any void-escaping arts, making flight far more difficult for him.

He could not afford to stay and keep the madman company in his folly. He was not that drunkard; he had only one thought in his mind, and numerous tasks waiting for him to accomplish.

Inspecting his newly acquired spoils, which were much like the storage ring of Zhao Mo, Li Mu discovered a similar, peculiar square pill inside Wang Lin's storage ring.

Rich in spiritual power, these pills looked little different from beast cores or spiritual materials, and they could likewise be used to enhance cultivation strength. However, unlike the pure spiritual energy of spiritual materials and beast cores, these pills carried a wisp of eerie aura, a mystery Li Mu could not fathom.

Adulterated pills were clearly inferior products, rarely ingested by cultivators. Yet, everyone in the Bright Jade Valley seemed to be consuming them; perhaps they possessed some unique method?

Such matters were exceedingly difficult to understand, and Li Mu decided to ask Shen Bingxue about them once he returned.

He would finish the tasks at hand first. For instance, he wanted to forge another magical treasure equipped with void-escaping arts.

The green sharp armor bearing the void-escaping art had been destroyed, significantly weakening him and unwittingly stripping away many of his trump cards. At the Vein Condensation Realm, Li Mu could sustain flight for five incense sticks' duration using the void-escaping art. Within the span of a single incense stick, almost no Vein Condensation cultivator could catch up to him, making this his supreme trump card for escape.

Unfortunately, it had been exhausted by Zhao Mo.

Li Mu let out a slight breath. Any cultivator in the Vein Condensation Realm had to be treated with caution; whether in the early or late stages, they often possessed unusual trump cards.

Because of this, he had expended a tremendous amount of effort.

Standing upon his flying shuttle, Li Mu wore the purple robes of the Bright Jade Valley, having altered his appearance to that of Li Tian, while transmuting various materials. The process had proven far more difficult than before, yet several hours passed without a single incident.

Just as Li Mu was feeling vexed, a sword flashed across the sky ahead, blocking his path precisely.

At the sight of this sword, Li Mu felt a faint sense of familiarity.

"Manager Li, why have you changed into this attire?"

Mu Tongfeng stood upon the sword blade, swaying as if about to topple over. His pale face carried a hint of flush, yet he seemed utterly exhausted, speaking with great effort.

"What happened to you?"

Li Mu steadied the flying shuttle, chuckled, and patted his own clothes. "Just messing around."

"It's good that I found you. I'm doing quite well myself. Searching for these past few days has been truly tiring."

Mu Tongfeng let out a soft breath, slowly sat down, and furrowed his brows. "Madam Wang asked me to pass along a message to you."

"Madam Wang?" Li Mu asked, puzzled.

"Indeed." Mu Tongfeng sat upright on the sword blade, slowly trailing behind Li Mu.

"After you left Deyang City that day, three Vein Condensation cultivators rapidly pursued you, a movement that happened to be detected by Madam Wang. Suspecting their intentions toward you were ill, she used a restrictive array to temporarily detain them, sustaining considerable injuries herself in the process."

Hearing this, Li Mu's expression turned somewhat grim. "Is she alright?"

He had been wondering why no cultivators had caught up to him; it turned out they had been intercepted by Madam Wang. This generated a surge of deeper goodwill toward her within his heart.

"No harm done, she is fine." Mu Tongfeng visibly relaxed a fraction.

Li Mu immediately produced a jade bottle of pills. "My thanks to Madam Wang. Please bring these pills to her as well."

Mu Tongfeng accepted the bottle with his hand without asking any questions, nodding solemnly.

Li Mu handed over another bottle. "A gift for you. Spirit-returning pills—do not overuse them."

"Thank you." Mu Tongfeng stood on ceremony, immediately uncorking the bottle and swallowing a pill. Moments later, his expression turned one of profound astonishment; his true essence recovered at an astonishing speed, and his entire body instantly felt comforted and refreshed.

"Manager Li truly possesses remarkable abilities."

Mu Tongfeng glanced at Li Mu, shaking his head. "The ones Madam Wang detained are people from the Earthly Eye Fangs. The influence of the Earthly Eye Fangs is vast, did you know? Even Madam Wang could not hold them indefinitely, which is why she sent me to find you."

"Thank you."

Li Mu cupped his fists in salute from atop the flying shuttle. "Madam Wang shouldn't be facing any major trouble, should she?"

"None at all." Mu Tongfeng smiled with absolute confidence. "Within Deyang City, no one dares to oppose the Jade Iron Sect, rest assured. However, you are the one facing trouble. The Earthly Eye Fangs have numerous members within the Cloud Mountain Realm, scattered everywhere gathering intelligence. You will run into them no matter where you go. Madam Wang's advice is twofold: either return to Deyang City, or leave this place entirely."

"I understand, thank you." Li Mu nodded.

He had indeed been entertaining the thought of leaving; his return had been free of regrets, and it was time for him to go.

"Think nothing of it. Madam Wang has been a benefactor to me; running errands for her is only my duty." Mu Tongfeng returned the salute with a smile. "If not for Madam Wang, I might have been wiped out during the Jade Iron Assembly. How could I have claimed first place? Haha."

Li Mu returned the greeting, realizing instantly that the sword beneath him was the Green Intestine Sword, the prize for the Jade Iron Assembly.

"Then let us part here, Manager Li."

Mu Tongfeng nodded, and gazing at the Green Intestine Sword in the sky, he vanished in a flash like a fish in water.

Li Mu removed the garments of the Bright Jade Valley, reverting to his true appearance as Li Mu. Abandoning the flying shuttle, he proceeded forward using the Dust-Sand Array instead. The Earthly Eye Fangs were searching for Li Tian, not him, Li Mu. Viewed this way, there should be no particular danger.

Following another transmutation, the items that vanished did not readily return to their original form. After more than a dozen hours, the Void-Escaping Butterfly Wings failed to manifest, yielding instead over a dozen unique materials.

Among them were items even rarer than the Void-Escaping Butterfly Wings.

Take the Zither Jade, for instance. This was an extremely rare material of unknown origin. Cultivators only knew that carrying it on one's person would cause it to emit crisp zither music in response to the bearer's fluctuating emotions, soothing the mind and preventing mental confusion.

Though entirely useless in combat, its value was astronomical. A single top-tier piece could fetch hundreds of thousands of spirit crystals, fiercely contested by wealthy female cultivators.

Yet, to Li Mu, it was utterly useless.

"I want the Void-Escaping Butterfly Wings!"

Li Mu prayed silently as he continued the transmutation.

Fortune favors the persistent. At long last, after an unknown number of days had passed, Li Mu finally succeeded in obtaining the Void-Escaping Butterfly Wings once more. This time, however, he chose not to synthesize a magical robe, but rather forged it into a different third-grade magical treasure. Compared to other gear, the consumption rate for forging magical robes was exceedingly high, giving one a sense of exhaustion.

The materials for the magical treasure had essentially all been harvested during the transmutation of the Void-Escaping Butterfly Wings, making the process relatively effortless.

Third-grade top-tier magical treasure: Green Lake Jade. It was a defensive magical treasure imbued with water spiritual power, capable of defending against fire below the fourth grade, and equipped with three innate arrays: the Void-Escaping Art, Fire Resistance, and the Water Barrier.

Putting everything else aside, the Water Barrier was an excellent protective technique. Li Mu had lacked a proper defensive barrier, previously relying solely on the Dust-Sand Array for protection; now, that gap was filled.

As for the green sharp armor, he had merely crafted an ordinary third-grade top-tier version, sufficient for bodily protection.

Fully satisfied, Li Mu hung the Green Lake Jade pendant upon his person. As he lowered his head and cast a sideways glance, he noticed rising heat and thick billows of smoke emanating from the ground below.

Without a second thought, Li Mu plummeted straight downward.

As he descended, a continuous chorus of miserable shrieks echoed upward from below.

Clearly, some village was being ravaged by evil practitioners.

How could Li Mu stand by and watch? He harbored a deep-seated hatred for the atrocities committed by evil practitioners and yearned to exterminate them utterly.

A flash of golden light swept past, and Li Mu landed directly within the village.

Three evil practitioners raised their heads from pools of blood, fresh gore staining their lips, and fixed their bloodshot eyes in a fierce stare upon Li Mu.