Chapter 267: Surprising Discovery!

Hm?

Someone's here!

Chen Mu's heart stirred; his body shot straight upward, surging toward the sea surface.

"Splash~"

Waves splashed everywhere.

Chen Mu surged to a hundred meters above sea level, activating both "Sky Wolf Sniffs the Moon" and "Hears the Wind" skills, monitoring all directions.

… No one!

Within a radius of several li, there was no one.

"Don't be nervous."

The deep, magnetic voice of a man sounded again, "We mean no harm—we merely wish to test whether you, Chen Mu, have a connection with us."

Chen Mu?

Did they recognize him?

True, Chen Mu had altered his appearance and slightly changed his physique.

Yet they recognized him outright…

Swish~

Chen Mu used his Qi to control the token, flinging it hundreds of meters away, where it hovered midair.

"Who are you?"

"Why did you lure me here?"

Chen Mu spoke calmly, asking.

The "Sky Wolf Sniffs the Moon" and "Hears the Wind" skills were unbeatable against low-level warriors. Unless the opponent practiced a special concealment technique and mastered it deeply. But against high-level warriors—such as a Heaven Palace Realm expert—they were useless.

Because Heaven Palace Realm experts could harness the power of heaven and earth!

By enveloping themselves in the power of heaven and earth, pure senses of smell and hearing could not detect them at all.

Even the flow of air, the drift of wind—Heaven and Earth power could mimic it, making locking on impossible.

But if one possessed Divine Sense, it was different!

Divine Sense scanned spiritual energy!

Any living thing that thought, that possessed wisdom, could not escape Divine Sense's scan.

Unless wearing a specialized concealment treasure or practicing an even rarer Divine Sense technique.

Under Divine Sense, ordinary disguise and shape-shifting had zero effect.

In other words.

The one who saw through Chen Mu was at least a Land Altar Realm expert who had achieved Divine Perception!

…

"Who I am, you will learn in time."

The deep, magnetic voice sounded again, "As for luring you out… don't you think that if there were no connection, you would never have come out?"

The words were roundabout, but Chen Mu understood.

The token!

Chen Mu had been struck by a sudden intuition, sensing the token, following an unseen guidance into the seabed.

Although the token had been placed there by a mysterious figure, if Chen Mu had not sensed it—or had no reaction at all—there would have been no further events.

In this sense, the token truly had a connection with Chen Mu!

"We do not approach just anyone."

The deep, magnetic voice chuckled lightly, "We only appear when the connection is ripe. Keep this token—you may trust it. Should you ever face a deadly foe, crush it, and it will save your life."

"Who are you?" Chen Mu pressed.

"Who we are, you will know once you join," the deep voice ceased, "Until next time."

"Wait!"

Chen Mu cried out urgently, wanting to ask more—but only sensed a faint ripple in the void dozens of meters behind and to his right, then it vanished instantly.

Gone!

Spatial evasion?

Spatial teleportation?

Whatever the method, the mysterious figure had been nearby—just beyond Chen Mu's detection.

Only when leaving did space ripple.

"Crush the token, and I'll be saved?"

Forcing himself calm, Chen Mu retrieved the token, holding it in his hand to examine closely. Its appearance had not changed, yet spiritually he felt an inexplicable familiarity—as if he had known it long ago.

Connection?

Fine.

At least one thing was certain: the mysterious figure meant no harm.

Even if the token had a trap, storing it in his palm space would render it useless.

…

Thinking of this,

Chen Mu flipped his hand and stored the token in his space.

Then, he oriented himself and raced back toward the bay.

The battle over the "Cloud Lotus Flowers" still raged. The sea surface was littered with corpses and shattered shipwrecks.

【Found a corpse. Retrieve it?】

"Yes!"

【Found a corpse. Retrieve it?】

"Yes!"

……

He circled the sea surface a few times and retrieved a batch of cards.

Chen Mu flew back to shore, stood on a reef, gazed at the flames roaring into the sky, the ceaseless cries of battle, screams, and roars over the sea, and examined the cards he had collected.

Internal Strength card, Internal Strength card, Power card, True Qi card…

Cultivation card, Equipment card, Skill card…

Memory card!

He checked each card one by one, categorizing and storing them.

There were many—over four hundred in total.

But very few were useful to Chen Mu.

For example, True Qi cards: only seven, each granting three months to one year and two months of True Qi.

Internal Strength cards were plentiful—eighty-six—but converting Internal Strength into True Qi yielded far too little.

The most numerous were Physical Strength cards and Energy cards.

After checking everything, Chen Mu unlocked a Memory card and read the memories of the deceased martial artist.

He quickly "browsed" through it, then unlocked another.

When he reached the fourth Memory card, luck arrived.

Longevity Sect members!

Ever since the "Baicao Pavilion" was revealed to be operated by the Longevity Mo Sect, it had been abandoned, all Shopkeepers and staff vanished.

This Memory card recorded the memories of a Longevity Sect member named Fang Hui, covering the past three years of his life. He knew exactly where the Shopkeepers and staff of the "Baicao Pavilion" were hiding. Most Longevity Sect members were stationed in a great mountain outside Bai Yun City—a base of the Longevity Sect, one of the pharmacies for manufacturing "Human Pills"…

Hm?

Wait!

Suddenly, Chen Mu's eyes lit up, locking onto a memory scene he was browsing.

Zhu Jiuchuan!

Zhu Jiuchuan, who had vanished two days ago and whose whereabouts were unknown, was also inside the Longevity Sect's base.

And he had been captured and imprisoned!

"No wonder, with Hua Shanhe's influence and connections, they searched everywhere in the city and couldn't find him."

"So he was captured by the Longevity Sect!"

Joy surged in Chen Mu's eyes.

According to Fang Hui's memories, Zhu Jiuchuan had tried to negotiate with the Longevity Sect's local commander for greater rewards—but misjudged the situation and was immediately stripped of his Wu Gong and imprisoned.

He was still alive only because he hadn't carried the spy list on his person.

Otherwise, he would have already been turned into a "Human Pill" and consumed by the commander.

The body of a Ditan Realm practitioner with Three Flowers Gathering and Five Qi Aligning was rare; the resulting "Human Pill" had remarkable effects—the Tiangong Realm commander of the Longevity Sect needed it badly.

Even though Zhu Jiuchuan was still alive, he endured the same tortures daily; according to Fang Hui's memories, he was constantly beaten and interrogated for the location of the spy list.

"We must get him out quickly!"

After "reading" the memory, Chen Mu's mind raced.

If Zhu Jiuchuan broke under torture and revealed the spy list's hiding place, trouble would be immense.

If the Longevity Sect obtained the list, the consequences would be many times worse than if the Flying Sharks Island pirates had it.

Countless lives in Jiannan Dao and Dong Nan Dao would be lost.

Now that he knew Zhu Jiuchuan's location, he could move to rescue him—but the base housed a Tiangong Realm Longevity Sect commander.

Chen Mu feared neither Ditan Realm practitioners with Three Flowers Gathering nor Five Qi Aligning.

But a Ditan Realm practitioner with Divine Awareness, who had reached the See-Through-Reality stage, was another matter—he must avoid them, let alone a Tiangong Realm practitioner.

"To rescue Zhu Jiuchuan, I must first draw away the Longevity Sect's commander…"

Chen Mu pondered.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

Got it!