Chapter 250: Ditan Realm, Achieved!

From official offices and noble families down to alleyway markets, no one was not talking about it.

Shock, confusion, bewilderment… emotions of all kinds hung thick in the air over the state capital.

Some grew unnaturally tense, unable to sleep or eat, because they had old ties to Wang Fu or Cangjian Palace.

Others, driven by old grudges or conflicting interests, laughed loudly and clapped in delight.

Most simply could not believe it, feeling as if they were dreaming.

"Insane, insane—first Heishui Gate was wiped out, now Cangjian Palace is being purged!"

"After this, the Wu Lin of Zhenzhou will likely fall silent for decades."

"Cangjian Palace has been a lineage for hundreds of years—how can it just vanish like this?"

"Even Jing'an Wang is imperial kin—yet they arrested him without hesitation?"

"Isn't this too convenient? Cangjian Palace was destroyed one moment, and Jing'an Wang was arrested the next!"

"…"

Everyone realized these two events were not isolated—they must be connected in some way.

But on the surface, there was no trace of contact between them; no matter how hard people strained their minds, they could not fathom the hidden link.

Not knowing how to understand it, countless eyes nonetheless turned unconsciously toward the same person.

Chen Mu!

Because Chen Mu had been present when Jing'an Wang was arrested.

"What role did Inspector Chen play in all this?"

"Hey, Chen Mu arrived in Zhenzhou and immediately stirred up chaos—could it be he'd been targeting Jing'an Wang all along?"

"I doubt it. Chen Mu may have just been in the right place at the right time—after all, arresting a prince is no task a Class-C Inspector could possibly lead."

"That's true!"

"…"

Similar speculation didn't just fester in the streets—it had also seeped into the Zhenwu Bureau itself.

During shift changes, squads of officers gathered in small groups, whispering in hushed tones.

One officer, eyes darting, declared firmly, "Inspector Chen must have been involved from the start! Think about it—he arrived and made a huge show of himself; perhaps he was drawing attention to mask the real operation!"

Someone beside him immediately countered, "I don't think so. Inspector Chen may be powerful, but arresting a prince and wiping out a sect? He's not the one calling the shots—he just happened to be there."

"Either way, Inspector Chen has earned another merit!"

"…"

Amid the swirling rumors, some tried linking Chen Mu's actions to a string of unsolved cases.

"Do you think the deaths of Deputy Chief Zhang of Liyang Gang, the theft of the Xu family's treasure, the destruction of Heishui Gate, and Xu Zitong's murder… could they all be tied to Jing'an Wang?"

The moment this theory was cautiously voiced, a rational man beside him snapped sharply, "Silence! Do you want to die? How dare you speculate on such things?"

"Be silent! Don't you want to live? How can you speculate about something like this?"

"…"

The Xu family mansion.

An elder close to Xu Zitong, eyes red, slammed his fist on the table and cried out bitterly, "It had to be Wu Jianqing! Old Third can't die in vain—we must…"

"Shut up!"

Xu Ziluo shot to his feet, his voice sharp and stern, his gaze sweeping coldly over everyone present.

"This matter ends here!"

"From now on, no one speaks of Zitong's death—or even mentions 'Yunshen Jade' again!"

His chest rose and fell as he suppressed his churning emotions, speaking low and steady, "Don't you feel how deep the water is in Jing'an Wang's arrest and Cangjian Palace's fall?"

"Our Xu family cannot touch it. We cannot even risk brushing against it!"

Xu Ziluo knew the forces behind this were powerful enough to crush the entire Xu family with ease.

Xu Zitong's death, the loss of the Yunshen Jade—this silent humiliation, they must swallow it whole, never dig deeper.

In fact,

Anyone with even a shred of sense or access to information had linked the events of the past month in Zhenzhou—from Zhang Tieli's death, to Heishui Gate's destruction, to the Xu family's raid, to the final sealing of Wang Fu and the sect's erasure—and realized a hidden, deadly thread connected them all.

Even Chu Xiaotian, still recovering in the city, and Su Donglai, upon hearing these rumors, immediately quashed the last lingering thought of the "Yunshen Jade."

Chu Xiaotian lay on his inn bed, staring at his bandaged, immobilized arm, silent and shaking his head.

On the other side,

Su Donglai stood by the window, gazing toward the Zhenwu Bureau, a flicker of curiosity in his eyes.

"…"

While the outside world roiled with rumors over Jing'an Wang and Cangjian Palace, Chen Mu had already shut out all noise in a quiet chamber of the Zhenwu Bureau, his mind calm and focused, beginning his assault on the Ditan Realm.

First, he refined the true qi in his dantian repeatedly; once his state reached peak readiness, he took out the Diyuan Pill and swallowed it.

The pill dissolved instantly in his belly, transforming into a torrent of pure medicinal power that surged through his limbs and organs, finally converging into his dantian.

Following the guidance, Chen Mu used his will to direct this power, steadily and methodically striking at an invisible barrier, a mysterious gate within his body.

"Boom!"

As if a thunderclap split the heavens inside his mind, the gate shattered open!

In an instant, a strange resonance formed between his dantian sea and his third eye's ancestral orifice; a faint, elusive connection quietly took root.

The first step of the breakthrough was complete!

Without a moment's slack, Chen Mu took out the Yunshen Jade and pressed it to his third eye, while releasing his true qi to form a soft, stable energy field encircling his body.

The Heavenly River Scripture surged to full power, following its esoteric teachings with extreme caution and slowness, attempting to open the mysterious, unfathomable mind sea.

This was a painstaking process—and the ultimate test of one's temperament and control.

Chen Mu devoted all his focus, carefully performing this delicate, embroidery-like operation in the tiny space of his third eye spiritual platform.

He did not know how much time had passed—perhaps an instant, perhaps several hours—

Suddenly, Chen Mu felt a chill at his third eye, as if an invisible membrane had been quietly pierced.

Immediately, an indescribable strange sensation surged into his heart—he "saw" deep within his brain, as if a "gateway" to an unknown world had been opened!

Beyond the gateway lay a chaotic, hazy yet boundless realm, brimming with miraculous spiritual power—the spiritual world known as the "Mind Sea"—successfully manifested!

With this step, half of the breakthrough to Earth Altar Realm had been accomplished; the most perilous trial had been overcome.

Chen Mu remained unmoved, not pausing, carefully sensing the cool, soothing energy emanating from the Spirit-Stabilizing Jade at his third eye, an energy as loyal as a guardian, solidifying the newly opened, still fragile Mind Sea.

Continuing to guide with his intent, he carefully constructed an invisible, stable passage between his Dantian Qi Sea and his third eye Mind Sea.

Compared to the bone-chilling caution required to open the Mind Sea, this step was slightly easier, but still far from instantaneous.

Chen Mu maintained patience, weaving like a spider spinning its web, consciously controlling the output and shaping of his spiritual power, bit by bit weaving and reinforcing this vital "bridge" crucial to his future.

He did not know how much time had passed.

The instant the final wisp of spiritual power perfectly connected, and the bridge became utterly stable—

"Hum!"

Chen Mu's body trembled slightly, his aura abruptly transformed!

The true qi within his Dantian and the spiritual power within his Mind Sea were now fully connected through the bridge, circulating endlessly, unceasingly.

An unprecedented sense of power arose within him, as if his very life had been elevated to a new level.

His surrounding true qi spontaneously surged outward, stirring invisible waves of energy within the quiet chamber.

Earth Altar Realm—achieved!