Chapter 437: Run! Run Fast!

Chen Mu finally understood.

Only those ancient relics that have clung to existence since antiquity, bearing the aura and peculiar rules of bygone ages—demonic entities, aberrant beasts, and malevolent spirits—could possibly obtain a Break Through Realm card!

This thing is closely tied to "time," or rather, the age of existence.

The longer something has lived, the more it has endured the passage of eons, the more it inherently possesses some extraordinary "trait" that transcends normal limits.

But which ancient relic is easy to deal with?

Had it not been for this stroke of fortune, combined with Elder Tie Tang's direct confrontation, I could never have slain that malevolent Taishui alone—it would have been no easy feat, and I might even have been consumed by it.

Strength is the foundation.

As he pondered, Chen Mu stilled his thoughts and activated "Earth Submersion," sinking beneath the surface.

Moments later, with a "puff," he burst through the final foot of soil and leapt to the surface.

The scene before his eyes chilled his gaze.

Thirty zhang away, on a rocky wasteland, Tang Bin, Zhou Yan, and four other Zhenwu Bureau warriors stood back-to-back against several massive boulders, forming a small Five Elements battle array, barely holding on.

Around them, over a hundred Mo Sect disciples, clad in disheveled robes and radiating malice, surrounded them in dense formation.

Shouts of battle, clashing weapons, and dying screams mingled together; the stench of blood surged forward.

These Mo Sect disciples varied in cultivation—most were in the Postnatal Realm, charging forward with swords and sabers, howling like beasts.

About thirty percent were in the Innate Realm; their techniques were ruthless, their coordination sharper, constantly harassing from the flanks.

Most troubling were the two Mo Sect officials at the perimeter, their aura distinctly cold and heavy, having reached the Earth Altar Realm's Three Flowers Converging peak—they continuously unleashed venomous palm strikes and dart shadows, eroding Tang Bin's protective qi like two venomous snakes, waiting for the fatal strike.

Tang Bin, as the array's core, bore the greatest pressure.

His face flushed red, veins bulging on his forehead; his steel longsword whirled so fast not a drop of water could penetrate, blocking most powerful attacks aimed at the formation.

But prolonged defense must fail—in the instant Chen Mu burst from the earth, the slender official wielding a pair of pale-blue poisoned short halberds seized the fleeting moment when Tang Bin had just parried three bone-piercing darts from the other official, his old force spent and new force unformed—he twisted his body with uncanny agility, evading the frontal blade, and like a ghost slipped inside the circle, delivering a palm strike saturated with chilling, bone-eroding true energy straight into Tang Bin's left shoulder!

Crack! A sickening sound of bone breaking rang out.

"Ugh—!"

Tang Bin let out a muffled groan, spewing blood from his mouth, his body flying backward like a severed kite, crashing hard against a rock, then rolling to the ground; his sword clattered away with a "clank," his aura instantly collapsing to near death, his left shoulder rapidly covered in a strange blue-black hue—clearly, the poison ran deep.

"My lord!"

Zhou Yan and the others' eyes bulged with rage; the formation trembled violently as its core was wounded, teetering on collapse.

"Ha! Die!"

The slender official who landed the blow grinned cruelly, his toe tapping the ground, ready to rush forward and end Tang Bin's life.

In the very instant he moved, a scorching, tyrannical killing intent—like a volcano erupting—roared down from his side!

The slender official spun in horror; in his pupils reflected a crimson blade of light, molten as lava, solid as substance, tearing through air with a shrill, piercing shriek!

Where the blade passed, the ground was plowed into a charred trench; three Innate Realm Mo Sect disciples blocking its path never even screamed—they were instantly severed, their bodies and bones vaporized by the extreme heat and sharpness!

"What?!"

The slender official's soul nearly fled; he roared, abandoning Tang Bin, crossing his arms to block with his twin halberds, their pale-blue surfaces blazing with light as they formed a dense poison qi shield.

It was his ultimate survival technique: "Pale Blue Poison Wall!"

Too bad—when the crimson blade met the poison wall—

Sssshhh!

Like a red-hot iron rod plunged into butter, or sunlight melting snow.

The seemingly resilient Pale Blue Poison Wall was laughably fragile before the yang essence of the Nine Yang Tyrant Blade.

The point of contact instantly caved, melted, and shattered.

The blade surged forward like a breaking dam, crashing into the crossed halberds!

"Clang—Crack!"

A piercing sound of shattering metal rang out.

The high-quality poisoned short halberds were cleanly severed.

The residual blade light passed unimpeded through the slender official's body.

Time seemed to freeze for an instant.

The cruel grin on the official's face froze, replaced by boundless terror and confusion.

A thin red line extended straight down from his forehead, across his nose, lips, chest, abdomen…

Puff!

Blood erupted skyward.

The official's body split cleanly along that red line, collapsing left and right; his organs spilled onto the ground, the cut surfaces charred black, emitting a foul smell of burnt flesh.

Earth Altar Realm, Three Flowers Converging—dead!

Silence.

Deathly silence.

The furious battlefield seemed paused.

All Mo Sect disciples, including the short, stout official wielding the serrated flying wheel who had just fired the bone-piercing darts, froze like their throats had been squeezed, staring in horror at the figure now standing in the midst of the battlefield, holding a long blade.

"I-it's the swordsman who killed the plague puppets in the city!"

One Mo Sect disciple recognized him, voice trembling uncontrollably.

"Run! Run fast!"

The stout official reacted fastest; seeing his companion sliced cleanly in two, his courage shattered—he had not a shred of fighting spirit left.

He roared, turned, and fled.

He dared not even attack Chen Mu; instead, he hurled his serrated flying wheel backward with all his strength—it exploded mid-air into dozens of poisoned blades, blanketing a wide area, solely to delay the enemy.

Simultaneously, he surged qi through his feet, activating his escape technique, fleeing desperately toward the distant forest.

With their leader gone, the Mo Sect disciples, whose morale had already collapsed at Chen Mu's appearance, erupted into chaos. They screamed as one and scattered like sheep fleeing a tiger, abandoning armor and weapons, running in all directions, cursing their parents for giving them only two legs, the scene utterly chaotic.

"Hmph."

Chen Mu let out a cold snort from his nostrils, feeling no pity for these Mo Sect henchmen who had besieged Tang Bin and aided the wicked.

With a light twist of his wrist, he swung his long blade seemingly at random.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Streams of dense, crimson blade energy shot through the air, precise as if they had eyes, chasing down the fleeing figures.

These blade beams were not large, yet they were incredibly dense, moving at astonishing speed, brimming with the terrifying power to pierce Jin Shi and incinerate evil impurities.

Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff…

The muffled thuds of blades piercing flesh and severing bones, accompanied by sharp cries of pain, rang out in rapid succession.

Whether Foundation Establishment or Innate Realm, before these blade beams, their protective Qi was as flimsy as paper, their bodies as rotten wood.

Mangled limbs and severed arms flew through the air; the acrid stench of burnt blood quickly spread.

Chen Mu walked forward as if strolling through a courtyard, each swing of his blade killing several Mo Sect disciples—efficient and cold-blooded.

【Corpse detected. Collect?】

"Yes!"