Chapter 350

The Qilin Armory is located in the northern frontier of the Zhou Dynasty, under the jurisdiction of the Ten Thousand Dragons Dao.

Chen Mu emerged from the Star Palace teleportation array, his landing point still in the Southeastern Dao.

He did not rush forward, but chose to head north selectively.

Sometimes he flew at high speed, slicing through the cloud layers, sensing the flow of heavenly and earthly primordial qi.

Sometimes he slowed down, observing the mountains, rivers, and landscapes below, the towns and their customs.

Passing through the prosperous, water-rich Jiangnan Dao, he arrived before the Tianmen River, which stretched across the land with mighty, surging waves.

The great river flowed like a dragon, ceaseless and roaring, its surface spanning dozens of li, thick with mist and saturated with water vapor.

Chen Mu crossed the river midair, feeling the river wind and the water-elemental qi, gaining new insights into the Ninefold Wave Force and the Crimson Water Dragon Killing Dao.

After crossing the Tianmen River, he entered the Jiangbei Dao.

Advancing further northwest, days later, he finally stepped onto the territory of the Ten Thousand Dragons Dao.

The Ten Thousand Dragons Dao, though not as wealthy as Jiangnan, produced abundant rare minerals and peculiar vegetation; martial sects and clans thrived here, and the people held martial prowess in higher esteem.

Chen Mu's target was the state of Wu within the Ten Thousand Dragons Dao.

In the northwestern part of Wu lay a mountain range stretching hundreds of li, its original name long forgotten.

After the ancient cave dwelling of the legendary Qilin Wu Zun—a supreme cultivator of the Myriad Forms Realm from the Ancient End Era—was discovered within this range, the mountains became known as the Qilin Mountains.

The Armory lies within the central-southern region of the Qilin Mountains, inside a solitary peak rising a thousand zhang tall, shaped like a brush rest, and unnaturally steep, opening once every hundred years.

Following the map's guidance, Chen Mu flew through the air to stand before this steep, solitary peak, seeing its body sheared as if carved, piercing straight into the clouds, its upper half vanished into faint mist.

Before the mountain stood a vast, artificially leveled open ground, several li across, its surface composed of hard, bluish-gray rock.

Chen Mu had expected the area to be thronged with people, all the prodigies gathered as the Armory's opening neared.

Yet when he landed on the open ground, he found it eerily quiet.

Only three groups were present, fewer than twenty people total, scattered across three distant corners, sharply separated from one another.

One group wore black martial attire, their aura cold and deadly.

Another wore uniform green martial robes, backs bearing long swords, expressions haughty.

The third group wore mismatched attire, like a clan accompanied by affiliated factions.

Chen Mu did not recognize any of these three groups.

Clearly, they all came from other states or dao of the Zhou Dynasty, or from reclusive sects.

Chen Mu's arrival drew the attention of all three groups.

Several pairs of eyes swept across the distance, filled with scrutiny and inquiry.

Chen Mu's aura was tightly contained, revealing only his Earth Altar Realm's Spirit Bridge cultivation level; his face was unfamiliar. After a brief appraisal, the three groups each withdrew their gazes, no one approached to speak, no one paid him any mind.

Chen Mu welcomed the quiet, choosing a spot on the edge of the open ground, far from the three groups, sitting cross-legged, closing his eyes to meditate, waiting for the Armory's opening day.

Thus passed three days.

Over these three days, several more groups arrived one after another on the open ground.

Each arrival drew brief attention and hushed murmurs, but soon calm returned, each group settling into their own corner, leaving one another undisturbed.

Only on the fourth afternoon did the atmosphere begin to shift noticeably.

First, clear, ringing sword cries echoed from the eastern horizon; over a dozen sword lights pierced the sky, their sharp sword qi churning the clouds.

The sword lights descended, revealing a group of martial artists clad in robes embroidered with dragon and tiger patterns, backs bearing long swords.

At their head stood a man around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, his face as radiant as jade, his eyes bright as stars, his surrounding sword qi faintly forming the image of a dragon and tiger entwined.

It was the contingent of the Dragon-Tiger Sword Sect, one of the Six Great Sword Sects from the Hanbei Dao, escorting Xu Zhen, the seventh-ranked prodigy on the Potential Dragon List!

Soon after, a powerful aura approached from the south.

A group of martial artists clad in yellow robes, their chests embroidered with yin-yang taiji symbols, arrived riding a treasure shaped like a flying shuttle.

At their head was a young man with an ordinary face, but whose eyes, as they opened and closed, seemed to swirl with yin and yang qi, his aura deep, solemn, and heavy.

This was the contingent of the Wu Zong sect, the Wu Zong Sect of the Huang Long Dao, one of the Seven Wu Zong Sects, escorting Qin Nan, the tenth-ranked prodigy on the Potential Dragon List.

Xu Zhen and Qin Nan clearly knew each other; upon landing, they bowed respectfully across the distance and exchanged a few pleasantries.

Their arrival drew the gaze of nearly everyone on the open ground, hushed whispers spreading everywhere.

Yet these two Potential Dragon prodigies spoke only to each other, ignoring all others, including Chen Mu, who had remained quietly alone.

Chen Mu paid no mind to this.

He had never met these Potential Dragon prodigies before; without revealing his identity, no one recognized him as a former Potential Dragon who had long since fallen off the list and operated with relative discretion.

Yet peace was soon shattered.

Around the hour of Wu, a thunderous rumble of air-splitting sound came from the north.

A giant spear, three zhang long, entirely black, its spearhead glowing with dark red bloodlight, flew ahead, followed by over a dozen martial artists wielding long spears, their aura sharp and formidable.

At their head was a young man whose brow carried an untamed arrogance, his spear intent piercing and fierce—he was Chu Xiaotian, ninth-ranked prodigy on the Potential Dragon List from the Divine Spear Gate of the Jiangbei Dao!

Almost at the moment Chu Xiaotian's group landed, a brilliant sword light shot from the western horizon like a meteor chasing the moon; within the sword light, a floating mountain's silhouette was faintly visible.

The sword light dispersed, revealing over a dozen swordsmen, backs bearing ancient, simple long swords, their auras either sharp or ethereal.

At their head was a youth who looked under twenty, with clear, delicate features and an unusually resolute gaze.

He was Lin Tuotian, the current prodigy of the Suspended Sword Mountain, one of the Six Great Sword Sects, who had once participated in the Wudicheng Dragon-Tiger Storm Gathering alongside Chen Mu!

The arrival of these two groups made the open ground even livelier.

And Chen Mu, who had been utterly ignored, like an invisible man, was finally noticed at this moment.

After landing, Chu Xiaotian automatically scanned the entire area; when his gaze passed over Chen Mu's corner, he froze slightly, then his face instantly filled with disbelief, unable to hold back an exclamation.

"Chen Mu? You… you're here too?!"

This cry, like a massive stone cast into a still lake.

Shua!

On the open ground, the eyes of nearly everyone—whether newly arrived from the Dragon-Tiger Sword Sect, Wuji Sect, Divine Spear Gate, or Xuanjian Mountain, or those who had been there earlier—all turned sharply toward Chen Mu, filled with shock, curiosity, scrutiny, and wariness.

Whispers and murmurs exploded instantly.

"Chen Mu? Which Chen Mu?"

"The Chen Mu from the Zhenwu Bureau?!"

"That's him? The one rumored to have been hunted by a Tiangong Realm expert, yet escaped death and seized the chance to break through to the Earth Altar Realm?"

"Wasn't he said to have been active only in the Southeast Circuit? How did he end up here at the Qilin Armory?"

"Does Xiao Xiaotian know him? From the tone, it sounds like they have a grudge?"

"Lin Lin Tuotian seems to have looked over too… does he know him too?"

"…"

For a moment, Chen Mu became the absolute center of attention on the entire open ground.

The gazes that had previously ignored him now turned solemn and complex.

No one had expected that this seemingly ordinary lone warrior was none other than the recently risen, legendary former Qianlong Prodigy, Chen Mu, Inspector of the Great Zhou Zhenwu Bureau.