Chapter 253: Sword-Suit War Boots Acquired!

Boom! Boom!

A violent explosion and a fierce shockwave suddenly swept through the temporary camp; the cart frames shattered on the spot, and the draft horses, panicked, screamed and bolted in every direction.

Under the cover of night, several hundred black-clad figures burst out from the wooded slopes on both sides; a dense volley of arrows, like a swarm of locusts, rained down first upon the panicked and chaotic Canal Gang merchant caravan.

"Ah!"

"Dodge it~"

"Kill them!"

"……"

Screams, roars, and the clash of weapons instantly rang out across the silent mountains.

Chen Mu stood still atop the mountain; the night was as bright as day to him. The "Night Vision" and "Eagle Eye" skills worked in tandem, letting him take in every detail of the scene unfolding in the camp below.

He saw two figures with overwhelmingly powerful auras burst out from the largest tent at the center of the camp and from an ordinary-looking carriage — precisely the two Earth Altar realm experts of the Canal Gang he had sensed earlier, who were in charge of this escort.

However, the attackers had clearly come prepared.

From among the black-clad figures, three figures with auras no weaker leapt out at once; two of them had thick, powerful auras — unmistakably Earth Altar realm, Apex Gathering cultivation — while the third was even more imposing, having reached Earth Altar realm, Chaoyuan!

"Seeking death!"

"Who are you people? How dare you lay a hand on the Canal Gang's cargo!"

"……"

The two Earth Altar realm experts of the Canal Gang were both shocked and furious; the instant they were entangled by the opposing three working together, violent clashes of true essence forced them to rise into the air to fight. They roared again and again, yet had no spare attention for the lives of the caravan below.

'Daring to strike at the Canal Gang — indeed bold enough, or perhaps fully confident in their backing?'

Chen Mu gazed from afar.

On the ground, the two groups of fighters were locked in a fierce melee.

In midair, the Earth Altar realm clashes were equally intense.

Chen Mu's figure and appearance suddenly shifted, becoming utterly unremarkable.

The next moment, his body flickered; as if merging into the earth itself, he activated the "Earth Escape" skill and burrowed silently underground.

Soil and small rocks seemed to turn to flowing water, letting Chen Mu slip through with ease; from the mountaintop he swiftly burrowed toward the location he had long since locked onto — the box storing the sword-suit components.

In just a few breaths, Chen Mu silently emerged from the ground in a shadow at the foot of the mountain.

【Corpse discovered. Loot?】

"Yes!"

……

Before coming over, Chen Mu had already observed carefully; the carriage piled with goods he had targeted happened to have no one nearby.

Swish~

Moving swift as lightning, Chen Mu stored the entire box containing the sword-suit components into his palm-space.

Having secured it, he was about to slip away at once, but the corner of his eye unexpectedly caught a figure in a nearby combat zone.

It was a slender girl whose movements, however, were ferociously powerful; in her hands an iron staff was swung so densely it was airtight. She was unmistakably the cold, aloof girl he had met a few times at the "Dragon Tiger Wind Cloud Assembly" in Wudicheng — from the Divine Strength Boshan family, yet had taken the name Su Jin herself.

Though she was currently disguised and her looks were no longer so exquisite, Chen Mu recognized her at a glance.

What struck Chen Mu as odd was—

At this moment, Boshan Jin was actually shielding Qi Lilou, fending off the black-clad attackers' assaults.

"How did she end up mixed in with the Canal Gang people? And protecting Qi Lilou so desperately? Has she actually joined the Canal Gang?"

Puzzled, Chen Mu couldn't help but take a few more glances.

He saw Boshan… Su Jin's staff techniques were ferocious, her strength astonishingly great; often a single sweep of her staff would send a black-clad figure flying along with their weapon, forcibly carving out a small safe zone amid the chaos.

Qi Lilou cowered behind her, face full of terror; the few strikes he threw looked feeble and weak.

Puzzled as he was, Chen Mu had no intention of going over to greet her.

His body flickered, merging into the ground once more, as if he had never appeared at all; activating the "Earth Escape" skill, he swiftly departed in the direction opposite the battlefield.

……

After burrowing straight through for over a dozen li in one breath, Chen Mu emerged from underground, took out the box, and opened it — inside lay a pair of familiar-etched, flowing-light war boots.

After the arm guards and leg guards, the sword-suit war boots were now in hand!

Swish~

The war boots were stored back into the palm-space, piled together with the arm guards and leg guards.

Leaving the empty box behind, Chen Mu took it in hand and rose into the air.

Circling once in the sky, he found a deep mountain ravine and tossed the box into it.

Afterwards, he turned around and headed back toward the temporary camp where Qi Lilou, Su Jin, and the others were.

From afar, he restrained his aura, landed on a mountaintop, and, separated by a thousand meters, began to observe.

The battle in the air was still mainly about containment.

On the ground, the Canal Gang merchant caravan's side was steadily losing ground.

Fortunately, the black-clad men's target was the carriages.

After the Canal Gang side pulled back from the open ground, nearly half of the black-clad men spread out to inspect the carriages and carts.

Soon, from one unoccupied carriage, they carried out a square, pitch-black iron box and swiftly fled into the wooded mountains.

"Stop right there!"

In midair, the Canal Gang's Earth Altar realm Chaoyuan-cultivation expert saw this scene, roared in fury, and was about to descend to intercept.

Boom~!

A tremendous crash.

The Earth Altar realm Chaoyuan-cultivation expert among the black-clad men struck out with a palm; true qi took form, condensing into a frozen giant palm that shattered the air as it moved to intercept.

Boom~ Boom~

Rumble!

The two clashed fiercely once more.

"Ah!"

The Canal Gang expert at the Earth Platform realm's Divine Bridge cultivation, fighting on the other side, let out a scream. Badly wounded by the joint assault, he tumbled toward the ground.

Of the two Earth Platform realm Five Qi Returning to Origin cultivators locked in fierce combat, one immediately broke away from the fight and rushed toward the ground.

The other did not press the pursuit either. With a brief signal, he regrouped with his two companions and swiftly tore through the air to leave.

'Is it over?'

On a hilltop, Chen Mu watched this scene from afar.

Without hesitation he burrowed underground, first approaching the battlefield strewn with corpses to collect the cards.

Then he withdrew underground, burrowed out for a certain distance, and returned to the surface.

He activated the "Wind Listening" skill, continuously expanding its range to track the black-clad team rapidly departing.

The next moment, the corner of Chen Mu's mouth curved upward. Following the direction he had located, he kept "Wind Listening" active and trailed far behind them.

Along the way, he crossed mountains and ridges.

Riding the moonlight, he stealthily traveled nearly a hundred li.

Only then did the black-clad team enter a mountain villa hidden among the peaks.

The jet-black square iron chest they had been carrying the whole way was set down at the center of the estate's courtyard.

Whoosh~ Whoosh~ Whoosh~

Three figures with overwhelmingly powerful auras descended from the sky.

"Greetings, my lord!"

The surrounding black-clad men all bowed, cupped their fists in salute, and shouted.

"The mission was carried out excellently. The rewards belonging to you have already been prepared — go down and receive them."

The figure with the strongest aura, his voice raspy, raised a hand.

"Thank you, my lord!"

All the black-clad men shouted in unison once more.

As the words fell, the group of black-clad men retreated, withdrawing from the courtyard.

After everyone had left.

The raspy-voiced figure spoke in a low tone, "You may open the chest."

"Hehe, at last I can see what a top-grade 'Purple Jade Soul Flower' looks like…"

A person beside him laughed excitedly and was about to open the iron chest.

Just at that moment, the chest suddenly vanished!

Right under the noses of three Earth Platform realm experts, it disappeared into thin air…

V-a-n-i-s-h-e-d!