Chapter 316: Forceful Suppression!

As he spoke, his gaze swept across Gu Yongquan and the faces of every Nine Mysteries Sect disciple like cold lightning, each word enunciated with perfect clarity.

"But if this official discovers that any of you Nine Mysteries Sect people dare to personally take action, or send your subordinate forces to act, continuing to fight against the Divine Eagle Gate..."

"Don't say I didn't warn you! Anyone I catch, I'll kill!"

"If you don't believe it, go ahead and try!"

As his words fell, a chilling killing intent spread outward, as if it had caused the temperature of this afternoon valley to plummet several degrees.

Domineering!

Overbearing!

Beyond question!

At this moment, Chen Mu displayed the full authority and iron-bloodedness of the Great Zhou Martial Suppression Bureau's Inspector to perfection.

Silence.

The scene was deathly still, with only the mountain wind whimpering.

These Nine Mysteries Sect disciples had grown accustomed to lording over Weizhou—when had they ever received such merciless reprimands and threats?

After a brief moment of fear, two particularly unruly young disciples felt their blood surge. They exchanged a glance, then stiffened their necks and stepped forward, their faces filled with humiliation and indignation, unable to hold back a low growl.

"On what grounds? Is Lord Chen determined to bully our Nine Mysteries Sect?!"

"Our Nine Mysteries Sect isn't easily intimidated!"

As the words fell—

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Chen Mu's gaze turned slightly cold. Without any visible movement, he simply raised his right hand casually, pressed his index and middle fingers together, and casually flicked out two crimson streams of light!

The streams of light were initially as thin as hair, but the instant they left his hand, they transformed into two condensed crimson sword energies imbued with scorching heat and razor-sharp aura. The piercing screech of them tearing through the air shot straight toward those two disciples who had spoken up!

"Careful!"

Gu Yongquan's face changed drastically. He cried out in alarm and instinctively moved to intervene.

But the moment his body stirred, those two crimson sword energies had already swept past his side, moving at a speed beyond his reaction limit!

"Puchi!" "Puchi!"

Two muffled sounds of flesh being pierced rang out almost simultaneously.

"Ah—!"

"My hand!"

Those two disciples felt a heart-tearing, excruciating pain at their right shoulder blades. Looking down, they saw a thumb-thick bloody hole at each of their right shoulder sockets, pierced clean through. Blood gushed out instantly, staining their robes red.

The fierce sword energy invaded their meridians, causing their entire right arms to instantly lose sensation and hang limp—clearly crippled.

The two screamed, their faces turning paper-white in an instant, cold sweat beading on their foreheads, their gazes toward Chen Mu filled with terror and dread.

"Lord Chen, please calm your anger! Show mercy!"

Gu Yongquan's heart pounded wildly. He hurriedly bowed, cold sweat seeping from his temples, and said through gritted teeth, "It... it was my disciples being ignorant and offending you, my lord! Lord Chen's words—I, Gu... I will report to the Sect Master immediately for a decision! Please... please give Lord Chen a moment..."

"Wait?"

Chen Mu withdrew his gaze, glanced at the two disciples curled up on the ground in agony, and said in a flat, emotionless tone tinged with faint mockery, "Wait for you to finish deliberating? Then come bargain with this official?"

"Well..."

Gu Yongquan forced a smile onto his face that looked worse than crying, stammering and not daring to speak.

Chen Mu couldn't be bothered to waste more words with him. The corner of his mouth curved into a half-smile. "No need for more idle talk. This official still needs to visit the Divine Eagle Gate. Do as you please."

As his words fell, his figure swayed slightly. As if supported by invisible steps beneath his feet, his entire body rose lightly into the air, his official robes flapping loudly in the wind.

"Lord Chen!"

Seeing this, Gu Yongquan hastily circulated his true qi, raised his voice, and shouted toward the sky, "When you go to the Divine Eagle Gate, will you forbid them from continuing their private fighting as you did here?"

"That's right."

Chen Mu didn't look back. His cold, clear voice descended from high above, landing clearly in everyone's ears.

Immediately, his figure accelerated, transforming into a streak of light that pierced through the clouds, vanishing beyond the horizon in the blink of an eye.

"Phew—"

Only after Chen Mu's figure had completely disappeared did everyone at the mining site exhale in unison, as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted. Many even felt their legs going weak.

"S-such a tyrant..."

"A tyrant? His strength speaks for itself! Not killing them on the spot was already showing mercy!"

"Comparing oneself to others is truly maddening. We've cultivated for years, yet we can't even take a single move from him..."

"Sigh, speaking of which, it really was us who fell for someone else's trap first. We're in the wrong..."

……

The disciples discussed in low voices, their emotions complex—fear, reverence, and an indescribable sense of frustration.

Gu Yongquan, however, did not join the discussion. His expression extremely grave, he quickly walked to an empty spot nearby and took out a paired bamboo slip from his robes.

True qi surged at his fingertips as he carefully carved onto the bamboo slip, transmitting everything that had happened here—especially Chen Mu's attitude and orders—in its entirety.

……

Meanwhile, Chen Mu sped like lightning across the sky, his figure leaving a faint trail of qi in the high air as he flew straight toward the Divine Eagle Gate's mountain gate.

The Divine Eagle Gate was situated atop a sheer, thousand-zhang-high peak, with steep terrain and swirling clouds and mist.

The moment Chen Mu arrived near the peak, he heard several high, piercing eagle cries tearing through the sky.

He saw three extraordinarily majestic giant black eagles taking flight from a platform at the summit, flapping their wings!

These black eagles were massive in size, their wings spanning over twenty meters when spread. Their feathers were black as ink, gleaming with a metallic cold sheen under the sunlight. Their eagle eyes were sharp as blades, and their talons flashed with cold light. They were the famed exotic beasts the Divine Eagle Gate was renowned for—Iron Feather Giant Eagles.

On the backs of the giant eagles stood several sharp-auraed Divine Eagle Gate disciples, each clad in black combat attire with flying eagle emblems embroidered on their sleeves, their expressions grim and murderous.

Chen Mu's figure tearing through the sky immediately caught the attention of everyone on the giant eagles' backs.

On the back of the central, most majestic giant eagle, a middle-aged man with a tall stature, a stern face, and eyes as sharp as a hawk stepped forward.

He wore the robes of the sect master, embroidered with golden-edged flying eagles; his aura stood deep and still as a mountain, unmistakably at the Earth Altar Realm, and even more solid and weighty than Gu Yongquan's, reaching the Fifth Qi Convergence level of the Earth Altar Realm.

He clasped his fists in greeting, his voice booming like a bronze bell, calling out from afar.

"May I ask, are you Chen Mu of the Town Martial Office, my lord?"

"Whoosh!"

Chen Mu halted midair, facing the three giant eagles at a distance, his official robe fluttering in the wind.

His gaze swept calmly over the three giant eagles and the disciplined disciples of the Divine Eagle Sect atop them, and he spoke calmly.

"It is I. Are you, Lord Yun, mobilizing your entire sect?"

Yun Tianyi, sect master of the Divine Eagle Sect, frowned deeply and declared loudly, "The Jiuxuan Sect has gone too far—falsely accusing my sect of attacking the mine and striking first to injure our Elder Guan Xu! If we do not avenge this insult, how can the Divine Eagle Sect stand in Weizhou? I am now going to demand justice!"

"My lord, what brings you here? If it is not urgent, please wait a moment—I shall entertain you with a banquet upon my return from this campaign, and offer my apologies."

"No need."