Chapter 354: SHOCKING TRANSFORMATION!!!

Chen Mu took a deep breath and gathered in all the unusual phenomena within his body.

Slowly opening his eyes, a flash of yin and yang qi passed through his gaze before returning to stillness.

"Here it comes!"

Chen Mu replied, his tone steady.

He stood up, bowed respectfully to the fist imprint before him—the one that had given him profound insight and contained the true meaning of yin and yang—as a gesture of gratitude.

Then, without hesitation, he turned and walked swiftly toward Ye Jiuzhong, who was already waiting near the exit.

The two met up and said nothing more, walking side by side toward the water curtain exit at the cave entrance, still rippling with seven-colored light.

At this moment, more than half of those inside the cave had finished their contemplation and left outside.

As they passed through the water curtain, a faint dizziness returned.

Yet, the moment Chen Mu and Ye Jiuzhong steadied themselves on the cliffside platform outside the cave and saw the scene below, their expressions changed simultaneously.

Something's wrong!

Beneath the thousand-zhang solitary peak, the vast gray-green open ground once used for waiting and assembling was now a scene of chaos, splattered with blood.

Dozens of corpses, clad in varied garments and bearing gruesome deaths, lay scattered across the ground.

Blood stained the rocks; the air reeked of thick, unyielding stench of blood, a horrific contrast to the earlier tranquility and peace when everyone waited.

"What's going on?"

Ye Jiuzhong's pupils shrank sharply as he scanned the blood-soaked ground below with shock and suspicion.

"These people… aren't they the ones who were waiting outside before?"

【Corpse detected. Collect?】

"Yes!"

…

With the card in hand, Chen Mu remained expressionless, his gaze swiftly sweeping over each corpse.

He recognized their garments—they were fellow disciples, family guards, and even several clearly elders or close kin brought by Lin Tuotian, Qin Nan, Chu Xiaotian, Xu Zhen, and others.

Now, these once-living beings had all become cold corpses, each death different, but most with twisted faces, blood oozing from nose and mouth, skin tinged with eerie blue-black or grayish hues.

At several spots on the ground, Lin Tuotian, Qin Nan, Chu Xiaotian, Xu Zhen, and others who had emerged from the Weapon Vault now stood beside the corpses of their fellow disciples or kin, faces ashen, eyes bulging with rage.

The murderous aura and killing intent radiating from each of them nearly solidified, like volcanoes about to erupt.

"Who did this?! Come out, you coward!"

"Brother! Brother! Wake up! Who killed my brother?!"

"Uncle! Uncle! Aaaah—!"

"Who is it?!"

"What vile wretch dares commit such a heinous act?"

"…."

Roars of grief and fury, piercing wails, and murderous bellows echoed across the open ground.

How had these young geniuses, once so proud and with boundless futures, ever seen such a horrific scene?

The dead were their comrades, their kin.

Anger and sorrow threatened to drown their reason.

Chen Mu's expression was grim, unmoved by emotion; silently, he approached a corpse nearby, clad in the robes of the Suspended Sword Mountain.

He crouched down, condensing a trace of true qi at his fingertip to examine the body.

The corpse showed no obvious external wounds, but fine black powder remained at nose and mouth, pupils extremely contracted, and subcutaneous veins glowed an unnatural dark green.

"These people… they all seem to have died from poison," Chen Mu whispered low to Ye Jiuzhong, who stood alert and wary beside him.

"Poison?!" Ye Jiuzhong gasped, about to examine closer.

Hu—

At that moment, another transformation occurred!

A pale blue mist, like gauze, suddenly billowed out from behind the scattered rocks in the southeast corner of the open ground.

The mist appeared with uncanny suddenness, yet spread with terrifying speed, as if alive, swiftly creeping toward the central area where the martial cultivators were gathered.

Wherever the mist passed, a strange odor filled the air—sickly sweet yet tainted with the stench of blood.

"Watch out!" a cultivator with sharp senses cried out first.

"This mist is poisonous! Hold your breath! Fall back!"

Chen Mu's eyes sharpened; he shouted loudly, "Brother Ye, this place is no longer safe—go!"

Yet, just then, a hoarse, mocking, cruel laugh rose like an owl's cry above their heads.

"Hahahaha… Go? Do you really think you can escape?"

As the words faded—

Wum!!

A crushing pressure, heavy as a mountain, as if the entire sky and earth had collapsed upon them, descended without warning from above.

Like an invisible giant hammer, it slammed down upon every single person below.

This pressure surpassed the Earth Altar realm, carrying an aura of supremacy over mortal existence, a preliminary mastery of heaven's laws!

Pūtōng! Pūtōng! Pūtōng…

Of the thirty-six cultivators who had just been roaring, grieving, and struggling against the mist, at least half had no chance to react—before they could even move, their legs buckled, and they were forcibly crushed to their knees, face-down on the ground.

Their faces instantly drained of color; their eyes filled with utter horror and confusion, as if unable to comprehend the source of this power.

"Tian… Tiangong realm?!"

Ye Jiuzhong clenched his teeth, veins bulging on his forehead, his bones creaking under unbearable strain as he fought desperately against the crushing pressure that threatened to pulverize him.

But he could only barely stand, and moving was already extremely difficult.

Chen Mu also felt that terrifying pressure like a mountain, but his cultivation had already reached the Five Qi Returning to Origin, his essence, qi, and spirit merged into one, his foundation far more solid than those of the same rank, and having once personally experienced the aura of the Heavenly Palace realm, though he too felt tremendous pressure now, it was far from the point of being unable to move.

In the blink of an eye, alarm bells rang loudly in Chen Mu's heart!

A Heavenly Palace realm powerhouse had suddenly appeared, had poisoned all the stationed personnel beforehand, then used poisonous fog and pressure to control these "geniuses" who had just come out of the armory...

Regardless of the other's purpose.

Was it for the insights and opportunities they had obtained in the armory?

Or was it to wipe out all these future hopes of the major powers in one fell swoop, to be used as hostages or alchemy materials?

Or some other unspeakable sinister plot...

In short, something terrible had happened!

One must know that behind Lin Tuotian was Hanging Sword Mountain, one of the Six Great Sword Sects.

Behind Qin Nan was the Wu Ji Sect, one of the Qidawu Sect.

Behind Xu Zhen was the Dragon Tiger Sword Sect.

Behind Chu Xiaotian was the Divine Spear Gate.

And there were other disciples from noble families and first-rate sects...

If all these people were to perish here, it would be enough to raise monstrous waves throughout the entire Great Zhou!

"Can't stay here!"

Chen Mu made a decisive decision, suddenly urging the true essence within his body, a flash of pale golden light that not only wrapped around himself but also instantly extended outward, enveloping Ye Jiuchong beside him who was struggling to hold on.

Whoosh~

As the "Earth Escape" was deployed, the ground beneath Chen Mu's feet instantly softened like quicksand.

The two figures, like sinking into water, vanished underground in an instant...