Chapter 411: Who Are You Really?

The red-clad woman's voice was not loud, yet it carried an odd penetrating power, mingled with a nauseating sweet-scented stench, clearly reaching the shadow beneath the massive rock where Chen Mu hid.

Those eyes glowing with eerie blue light seemed to pierce through darkness and stone, locking precisely onto Chen Mu's position.

Found!

Chen Mu's heart tightened slightly.

It wasn't that his stealth skills were inadequate—rather, the opponent had clearly operated in Black Wind Gully for a long time, having installed various sinister defenses and early-warning mechanisms inside and outside the cave, and likely even laid down some invisible perceptual network across the surrounding environment.

The surprise attack by the three members of the Fire Dispersal Sect may have been anticipated—or even provoked—by them, and this "bystander" of his was probably already exposed within some special detection range of theirs.

Since he had been discovered, hiding further was meaningless.

Chen Mu slowly stepped out from beneath the shadow of the rock, his figure gradually becoming clear in the cold moonlight.

He made no immediate move, nor did he reveal his full aura; he merely gazed calmly at the two Shishen Sect leaders—a man and a woman—at the cave entrance, and the deep, hellish void behind them.

"Tsk tsk, another one."

The red-clad woman sized up Chen Mu, a flicker of surprise crossing her eyes, then replaced by even stronger interest, "Your cultivation isn't weak—Ground Altar Realm, Three Flowers Converging on the Crown? You've concealed your aura well. Boy, which side are you from? The Town-Ward Office? Or did Jin Ao send you?"

The tall, thin man said nothing, only his eyes glowing red fixed unwaveringly on Chen Mu, his pale white bone spike slowly rotating, radiating danger.

The rustling from deep within the cave grew closer; twisted, slime-coated shadows could now be faintly seen writhing inside the entrance.

Chen Mu did not answer the red-clad woman's question; his gaze swept over the three rapidly decaying, gruesomely slain disciples of the Fire Dispersal Sect, then returned to the two of them, his voice flat and unshaken.

"Shishen Sect, feeding on humans, refining living beings—this defies heavenly principle. What are you hiding here for?"

"Heavenly principle? Hehehe…"

The red-clad woman laughed as if hearing the greatest joke, her body shaking with mirth, her chest heaving, yet her eyes held no amusement, "Little brother, that's so naively adorable. The strong devour the weak—that's the fundamental law of heaven and earth!"

"Our sacred sect merely follows this oldest, truest law. As for our intentions…"

Her smile vanished; her eyes blazed with intense blue light, and she licked her crimson lips, "Naturally, to make Wu Long Prefecture the first 'Holy Feast Ground' for our sect's descent here! Including the Giant Spirit Sect—they too will soon become nourishment for our sacred insects!"

Before her words ended, she and the tall, thin man moved simultaneously!

The red-clad woman's form blurred into a dark red afterimage, moving with astonishing speed, her five fingers forming claws, nails extending half a foot, gleaming with a ghostly green poison, laced with a cloying stench, striking straight for Chen Mu's face!

Where her claw wind passed, the air hissed with corrosion.

The tall, thin man remained relatively still, but his pale white bone spike suddenly blazed with light and flew free!

Not one—but dozens, even hundreds of illusory bone spikes, indistinguishable in truth or falsehood, like a rainstorm engulfing Chen Mu's vital points!

Each illusion carried a piercing, shrill shriek and penetratingly poisonous force, subtly sealing off every possible escape route Chen Mu might take.

Their coordination was flawless—one close, one distant; one fast, one deceptive—clearly aiming to swiftly eliminate Chen Mu, this unexpected "nuisance."

Facing this sudden, fierce pincer attack, Chen Mu's gaze remained calm—even without drawing his sword.

He merely shifted his foot slightly, his body drifting like willow fluff in the wind, slipping through the gap between the red-clad woman's vicious poison claws and the storm of bone spike illusions at an impossible angle and speed.

Simultaneously, his right hand formed a finger-sword and lightly tapped the center of the countless bone spike illusions.

Two-Yin-Yang Sword Qi—Yang Sword!

A pure, condensed, brilliant white light, as if capable of dispelling all darkness and evil, erupted from his fingertip.

The light was not dazzling, yet it carried an aura of righteous grandeur, purifying filth and corruption!

"Chiiii—"

Like a searing iron plunged into snow, the countless illusory bone spikes, infused with poisonous force and blending truth and illusion, shattered like they met their nemesis, emitting mournful hisses as they melted and dissolved rapidly!

The true ancestral bone spike hidden among them was precisely struck by the sword light—"Crack!"—its surface cracked with fine fissures, its glow dimmed, and it flew back.

The tall, thin man grunted, catching the bone spike, his red eyes flickering wildly with shock and uncertainty.

His "Hundred Ghost Bone Spikes" contained yin-evil corpse poison, specialized in breaking through protective true qi, corroding flesh and soul—ordinary cultivators of the same level fled in terror—how could this man dismantle them so easily?

The red-clad woman's claw missed; she was startled, but reacted instantly, her body twisting midair like a boneless venomous snake, lunging again at Chen Mu, while opening her mouth to spit.

"Puh—"

A thick, foul-smelling dark red blood arrow, alive and writhing, shot toward Chen Mu's lower back!

Within the blood arrow, countless tiny worm-like shadows writhed and hissed.

Chen Mu seemed to have eyes in the back of his head; without turning, he flicked his left hand backward, a supple, mighty true qi forming an invisible wall.

"Bang!"

The dark red blood arrow struck the wall—not rebounding, but clinging like a parasitic tumor, frantically eroding, trying to pierce through!

The wall hissed "Zizizi," its surface rapidly mottling.

Chen Mu frowned slightly; the Shishen Sect's methods were indeed vile and devious.

With a thought, the wall instantly transformed into blazing fiery true qi!

"Boom!"

Flames roared, instantly engulfing and incinerating the thick, repulsive blood arrow.

The tiny worm-like shadows within screamed shrilly, turning to green smoke in the fire, the stench purified by the heat.

The red-clad woman's face finally changed; her blue eyes flickered uncertainly.

"Who are you?"

Chen Mu did not answer; his form blurred as he took the initiative.

"Zheng—"

The Xian Long Sword flew from its hidden sheath, carving a cold arc through the moonlight.

Along its blade, crimson sword qi flickered unpredictably, and an invisible yet piercingly sharp sword intent spread outward.

Sword Intent, Third Level!

Sensing this sword intent, sharp enough to cut through souls, the red-clad woman and the tall, thin man both paled.

Ground Altar Realm, Three Flowers Converging on the Crown—and Sword Intent at the Third Level?

Where did this expert come from?

"Attack together! Kill him!"

The woman in red shrieked, her earlier seductive calm gone, her face twisted with ferocity.

She rapidly formed hand seals; dark red light blazed around her, and a faint, terrifying shadow with countless mouthparts loomed behind her.

The tall, thin man also growled, driving the bone spike—now cracked—into his left arm.