Chapter 64: New Card—True Qi Card!

Strike while he's stricken—take his life!

Guo Xianli was at the Innate Realm, one of the three great experts of the Guo family.

In peak condition, whether Chen Mu attacked head-on or struck from the shadows, he was no match.

But now, Guo Xianli had been blasted by the Thunder Bomb, his aura weak, his state dragged down to rock bottom.

If he didn't seize this chance, there wouldn't be another this good!

"Whoosh—"

Snow-white sword-light caught the morning sun, dazzling for over a dozen zhang.

A biting killing intent sealed off the blast site, enveloping Guo Xianli.

In an instant, covering less than ten meters, the hum of the quivering blade rang in Guo Xianli's ears.

Innate Realm or not—even with a hole blown in his belly, his viscera wounded, his head swimming—the moment he sensed the killing intent descend, Guo Xianli, half-crouched on the ground, slammed a palm into the earth, used the rebound to spin his whole body upright.

That spin dodged the blade, and at the same time he lashed out a palm strike!

The palm-force unleashed in fury slammed the void with a muffled boom; invisible momentum spread out and landed squarely on Chen Mu's left shoulder.

Boom—

Whoosh!

Hiss—!

Three strange sounds in quick succession.

Chen Mu was sent flying backward; a smear of fresh blood trailed from his fine-steel longsword, scattering through the air.

But the moment Guo Xianli's explosive palm hit Chen Mu's shoulder, Chen Mu's longsword, after stabbing the air, flicked upward—the vibrating edge shattered Guo Xianli's twin defenses of true Qi and flesh, slicing cleanly across his throat!

Chen Mu was still midair when Guo Xianli, his throat half-severed, stared wide-eyed and died on the spot.

"Hahaha!"

A burst of hysterical laughter suddenly rang out.

It came from the middle-aged man lying on the ground, both legs severed, with only one breath left, gathering his strength for a final venting.

"Hahaha—dies well!"

The words done, he breathed his last—but his face was piled high with smiles.

Guo Xianli, by contrast, died with his eyes unclosed in grievance.

【Corpse detected. Loot?】

"Yes!"

【Corpse detected. Loot?】

"Yes!"

Two cards in hand, Chen Mu also flew backward several meters and crashed to the ground.

The instant his boots hit the earth, Chen Mu—his dantian utterly hollow—activated the Wind-Chasing Legs, his body streaking away from the main road, racing at top speed toward the distant mountain forest.

Swish, swish—

In less than two breaths, Chen Mu plunged into the forest and vanished.

On the main road, the stunned crowd of onlookers fell silent for a moment—then erupted with a great "Wah!" of uproar.

"What just happened? Who was that? Too bold!"

"He struck while Guo Xianli was wounded and actually pulled it off! An enemy of the Guo family?"

"Madness, sheer madness—South Cloud Prefecture is about to be turned upside down!"

"Turned upside down, my ass. The Guo family wipes out whole households; their name stinks to high heaven. Losing one Guo Xianli is letting them off cheap."

"Shh—keep your voice down, you want to die?"

"……"

The road erupted into chaos.

Whoosh!

Whoosh—

The sound of wind splitting rang out as over a dozen figures shot from the open gate of He Family Fortress.

He Xianglong reached Guo Xianli's corpse first. Staring at the wide-eyed, utterly unwilling face of Guo Xianli, his temples bulged and his eyelids twitched.

Big trouble!

The Guo family's name stank, sure, but they were still a top-tier power in South Cloud Prefecture.

Guo Xianli had brought men to He Family Fortress specifically for the birthday celebration.

Now every single Guo family member had died outside He Family Fortress's gates—the He family had to give some account of itself, at the very least find out who the killer was!

"Pursue!"

He Xianglong drew a deep breath, steadied himself, and commanded in a low, hard voice, "After them! Into the mountains, find the man—"

"Patriarch, we cannot pursue!"

An elder who had arrived a moment later sidled up to He Xianglong and whispered, "Just-learned news: the man who struck while Guo Xianli was wounded and killed him has been staying with Young Master Shen for the past several days!"

At this, He Xianglong's pupils contracted. He lowered his voice: "... Truly one of Young Master Shen's people?"

"Whether he's truly Young Master Shen's man, we can't confirm for now—but that fellow and Young Master Shen were on very friendly terms for days on end. Many people saw them." The elder answered quietly.

"……" He Xianglong was silent.

After a long while, he exhaled: "Pursue we still must—at least put on a show of it."

"Understood!"

The elder got the message, turned to the guard squad that had followed them out, and waved his hand.

Several dozen men rushed at speed toward the mountain forest.

……

……

Whoosh~ whoosh~ whoosh~

The mountain wind blew against him.

Chen Mu flew forward with feet barely touching the ground, vaulting over peak after peak.

He used three Stamina Cards, covering more than forty li in one stretch before stopping on a hillside to ease up and rest briefly.

The "Listening Wind" skill was fully activated, tuning in to any movement from the direction of He Family Fortress.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes…

After listening for a full quarter-hour, Chen Mu's face showed puzzlement. He murmured, "No one actually came after me?"

The next instant, something struck him, and he said oddly, "The He family wouldn't think I have some connection to Shen Ge, would they?"

Compared with Shen Ge, neither Guo Xianli nor the Guo family amounted to anything.

A pride of heaven, a dragon among men — Shen Ge alone could crush any power in South Cloud Prefecture.

Let alone the sect behind Shen Ge: the Yaoyue Sect.

"Looks like I've caught some of Brother Shen's light again."

The corners of Chen Mu's mouth lifted, and he relaxed.

Once the He family fortress passed this news along to the Guo family, the Guo family wouldn't dare so much as fart in protest.

They'd only shift their fury onto the survivors of Red Willow Villa!

At this thought.

Chen Mu clapped his hands, sauntered down the mountain, and casually took out the seventeen cards he'd picked up, checking them one by one.

Stamina Card, Energy Card, Stamina Card… Internal Force Card! Internal Force Card!

Five Internal Force Cards in all, each containing a different amount of cultivation — the least still held half a month's worth.

Then three Power Cards, which Chen Mu used in sequence.

Next was an Equipment Card — the Sealed Item turned out to be two Willow-Leaf Dart!

Chen Mu unsealed the card, examined the two Willow-Leaf Darts, then took out the one he already had for comparison. The three Willow-Leaf Darts were identical.

"Three from a single set?"

These Willow-Leaf Darts were spirit weapons — even of the lowest grade, they were a major killing tool.

The trouble was, to unleash their power required true qi.

"These two Willow-Leaf Darts must have been picked up from that middle-aged man whose legs were severed…"

Chen Mu deliberated, then went on checking the cards.

True Qi Card!

A new card — picked up from Guo Xianli?

A Innate Martial Artist had true qi within his body; once he died, it could be extracted.

The True Qi Card now in Chen Mu's hand held a full month's worth of true qi cultivation.

"Not bad, not bad."

Studying the card, a smile welled up in Chen Mu's eyes.

The True Qi Card wasn't needed for now — he'd save it up and use it when he broke through to Innate.

He used one Internal Force Card, restoring his completely drained internal force.

To assassinate Guo Xianli, Chen Mu had executed the tenth sword of "Sweeping Cloud Sword," barely bursting out its power. The price was his internal force utterly spent, and a palm strike landing on his shoulder.

Anyone else taking that palm would have at least shattered a shoulder blade and been gravely wounded on the spot.

Chen Mu, tempered in the Horizontal-Forged Cauldron Body, felt only a stab of sharp pain.

Then, nothing!

Not even a scratch.

The Horizontal-Forged Cauldron Body was precisely one of the reasons Chen Mu dared to assassinate Guo Xianli.

Swoosh~

Checking the last card, the corners of Chen Mu's mouth immediately lifted.

That final card was a Memory Card!

Containing the life memories of one Guo Jinfan!