Chapter 402: Today Is Your Death Day!

This is a mental-level interference and attack.

Four Earth Altar Realm cultivators, three close-combat specialists, one distant mental suppressor—perfectly coordinated, clearly aiming to end the fight swiftly and eliminate Chen Mu, the greatest obstacle.

Facing this assault that would fluster even an ordinary Earth Altar Realm cultivator of Five Qi Convergence, Chen Mu's gaze remained as calm as still water.

"Zheng—"

A clear sword hum echoed down the long street.

A simple, ancient blade flew out from the weapon sheath on his back, landing in his palm—it was the Submerged Long Jian.

With the sword in hand, Chen Mu's entire demeanor changed.

Like a slumbering dragon opening its eyes, an indescribable sharpness and majestic aura erupted violently!

He used no flashy techniques—only a simple flick of his wrist, sending the Submerged Long Jian tracing an arcane path.

The True Martial Annihilating Demon Sword Art!

The true qi already primed within him surged forth like a dam breaking, flooding wildly into the blade.

Crimson pure yang sword qi exploded instantly along the blade's length.

Added to it was an invisible, piercing edge representing the will of the sword—

Sword Intent, Third Heaven!

"Chi-la—"

The crimson sword qi left the blade—not as a single beam, but instantly splitting and extending into a storm of sword energy covering a fan-shaped zone ahead.

Where the sword qi passed, the air seemed to ignite, emitting a shrill tearing sound.

The three Earth Altar Realm Bridge cultivators at the front took the full brunt!

The gray-white palm prints struck by the crimson sword qi melted like snow in boiling oil, dissolving instantly—along with the arm of the Bridge cultivator, shredded by the sword energy.

The slender sword pierced the sword storm; its blade screamed under unbearable strain, then shattered piece by piece—the wielder's chest was pierced through by a single sword qi, blood spraying five paces.

The earth-yellow fist aura seemed heavy, but before the utterly yang, invincible sword qi, it collapsed in half a breath—its master was pierced through by multiple sword qi, eyes wide with disbelief and terror as he fell.

Like dry grass crushed, like a bamboo shoot split!

The three Earth Altar Realm Bridge cultivators didn't even manage a proper scream before falling—under Chen Mu's seemingly casual, yet essence-filled strike of the True Martial Annihilating Demon Sword Art and Third Heaven Sword Intent.

Some severed in half, others pierced through vital points—killed instantly.

Their corpses tumbled to the ground like sacks of rags, blood staining the blue stone pavement.

The Earth Altar Realm Three Flowers Convergence master, hovering midair and casting his mental technique, saw this—and his cruel smile froze, turning into boundless terror.

His prized mental interference waves, upon touching the invisible sword intent and pure yang aura surrounding Chen Mu, vanished like mud into the sea, effortlessly swept aside and purified—utterly useless!

"Run!!!"

It was the only thought left in his mind.

What did "Boiling Blood King Jade" matter? What did the mission matter? Before death, nothing mattered.

He forcibly broke the technique, his blood qi churning violently—but he paid no heed, twisting his body like a startled rabbit, stepping on air, unleashing unprecedented speed as he fled desperately backward into the alley.

He didn't even dare look back!

Yet, just as he had sprinted less than thirty feet, convinced he had escaped—

An invisible, intangible, colorless, silent sword qi—born as if from the netherworld—appeared instantly behind his skull, ignoring spatial distance.

The Yin Sword of the Two-Phase Sword Qi!

This sword qi lacked the grandeur of the crimson blade, yet was denser, more hidden, more lethal.

Infused with extreme coldness and the meaning of utter annihilation.

"Pu—"

A faint sound, almost negligible, like puncturing a water sack.

The fleeing Three Flowers Convergence master froze mid-stride, his forward momentum halting abruptly, his terrified expression locked in place.

The next instant—

"Bang!!!"

His head exploded like a ripe watermelon.

Red blood, white brain matter, shattered bone—mixed together and sprayed outward like fireworks in midair.

The headless corpse lurched forward a few steps before collapsing heavily to the ground, twitching twice, then lying still.

【Corpse detected. Collect?】

"Yes."

Card acquired. Quick check.

Three True Qi cards, one Soul-Enhancing card.

Good.

Without expression, Chen Mu turned, his gaze passing over the scattered corpses and the scattered, terrified Xinyue Sect primordial cultivators, fixing on the top floor of a three-story tavern hundreds of meters away, at the street corner.

Behind an open window there, a figure had stood motionless the entire time.

A tall, stern-faced man, his eyes sharp as a hawk's, as if piercing straight through the soul.

From the moment Chen Mu stepped out of the inn, through the poison darts' launch, to the instant annihilation of the four Earth Altar Realm experts, this man had watched silently—his aura as still and immovable as Rushan, utterly unshaken, as if the bloody massacre below meant nothing to him.

But Chen Mu's spiritual sense clearly sensed: this man's qi was thick and profound, his cultivation at least Earth Altar Realm Five Qi Convergence.

Moreover, the repressed yet heart-shaking aura of death was several times denser and purer than that of the recently slain Three Flowers Convergence master.

Yet, beneath the gloom, a metallic stench of blood radiated.

Is this man not a high-ranking Xinyue Sect member?

From the Xuemo Sect?

Chen Mu pondered.

As Chen Mu locked eyes with the other, the middle-aged man on the top floor of the tavern also looked toward Chen Mu.

His hawk-like piercing gaze pierced through hundreds of meters, colliding violently with Chen Mu's calm, deep gaze in midair.

Invisible qi surged at the point where their gazes met, as if sparks were flying.

After a brief silence, a low, hoarse voice, like metal scraping against metal, clearly reached Chen Mu's ears—not a shout, but a chilling question.

"Are you Chen Mu?"

"And who are you?"

Facing the middle-aged man's questioning gaze, filled with scrutiny and murderous intent from hundreds of meters away, Chen Mu did not answer, but calmly asked in return.

His voice was not loud, yet it reached the other just as clearly.

This attitude made the middle-aged man on the tavern's top floor grow even colder in his gaze.

"Huh~"

The middle-aged man curled his lips into a cold smile, emitting a hollow laugh, "No wonder you're so confident—slaying these useless wastes of the Yin Kui Sect is like cutting melons and vegetables. Just breaking through the Three Flowers Converging at the Crown, yet possessing such power… no wonder you were once among the fastest climbers on the Potential Dragon List."

The middle-aged man had misjudged Chen Mu's cultivation realm based on how he slew the Three Flowers Converging at the Crown martial artist, attributing his strength to extraordinary talent and assuming he had just broken through to the Three Flowers Converging at the Crown realm.

Then, his tone shifted, turning icy and lethal, brimming with unhidden murderous intent.

"Too bad—even the finest talent must die here today!"