Chapter 86: New Card — Divine Power Card!

But!

His chest pierced through, this man did not die on the spot!

Only a wisp of fresh blood spilled from the corner of his mouth; his vicious eyes brimmed with madness, and his hands flashed like lightning, carrying shrill claw edges, clawing toward Chen Mu, covering left and right, sealing off every path of retreat.

"Whoosh!"

Chen Mu did not dodge or evade; an invisible sword qi burst from his chest, even faster than the Divine Arm Bow's arrow just now, shooting straight ahead at high speed.

The target — the horse-faced man's head!

Within arm's reach, swift as lightning, with ferocious piercing power.

The Two Forms Sword qi driven by true qi met no resistance as it struck the horse-faced man's skull; with a "splutch," the entire head shattered into countless pieces.

Red, white, spraying across the air.

A swirl of qi across Chen Mu's body surface flung all the liquid away.

【Corpse discovered. Pick up?】

"Yes!"

Quickly check the card.

A six-and-a-half-month true qi card!

"Aooo~~~"

The giant elephant's cry of pain and fury echoed through the valley; a terrifying sonic attack swept out horizontally. The earth kicked up billowing dust, and blasts of energy shot in all directions.

The people from the Longevity Cult and the Black Dragon Society had long been prepared, so the impact on them was minor.

The Zhenwu Division and the South Cloud Prefecture Army's ranks, however, suffered dozens of deaths.

A giant elephant with an arrow lodged in one eye swayed its massive body, roaring as it charged madly, trampling wildly.

"Pfft~"

A ten-man squad of the South Cloud Prefecture Army failed to dodge in time and was trampled by the giant elephant on the spot, reduced to a pulp of flesh.

Whoosh!

In the dusk-descending sky, a sheet of radiant light suddenly bloomed.

It was a sword radiance wreathed in platinum flames, tearing the void, crossing a hundred meters, sweeping across several hundred meters, descending above the giant elephant's head.

The wildly trampling giant elephant, in terror, instinctively dodged, swaying its head.

"Riiip~!"

Crimson fresh blood spurted out, a great swath spraying across the air.

It was one of the giant elephant's forelegs — from top to bottom, nearly half the flesh and blood had been sliced off and fallen away.

Pale-white steel-like bones were exposed to the air, trembling and humming continuously as the giant elephant screamed in agony.

"Zhao Fuzhou!"

In midair on the eastern side of the valley, an angry shout suddenly rang out; accompanying the sound, a sheet of blood-colored saber light drowned half the sky.

Whoosh~

The platinum sword radiance immediately reappeared, colliding with the blood-colored saber light and disintegrating a large swath of it in an instant.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle~!

The sound of energy tearing was like the rending of space itself; it slammed into the mountainside, triggering rumbling booms, and large amounts of rock were pulverized into dust.

Boom!

Boom~

"Rumble~!"

One tremendous blast followed another, earth-shatteringly, blasting a hole into the mountainside on the eastern side of the valley.

Whoosh!

Amid the swirling dust, a figure plummeted from midair, crashing onto the eastern slope of Dead Man's Valley amid a pile of rubble—with a thud, it slammed hard into the ground, carving out a deep dirt pit.

"Zhao Fuzhou, you… you've already stepped into the 'Earth Altar' realm?"

"Guess?" Zhao Fuzhou's clear, bright voice rang out.

"Even if you've stepped into 'Earth Altar,' taking me down won't be that easy! Come and die!!"

Boom! Boom! Boom~!

Violent explosive sounds linked into a continuous chain, echoing back into Dead Man's Valley.

Chen Mu, who had put away the Divine Arm Bow, paused briefly and raised his head to glance east.

"Zhao Fuzhou is at the Earth Altar realm?"

The Innate Realm was naturally not the endpoint of the martial path.

Above Innate was the Earth Altar Realm.

Above Earth Altar was the Heavenly Palace Realm.

Above Heavenly Palace, there was still another great realm.

This information, Chen Mu had not known before, nor had he been qualified to come into contact with it.

Whether Earth Altar or Heavenly Palace, neither existed in South Cloud Prefecture at all.

As the saying goes, although South Cloud was a prefecture domain, it was still a small, out-of-the-way place.

Within Hengzhou's borders, South Cloud Prefecture was ranked at the bottom.

Up to now, Chen Mu had still not encountered any strong practitioners of the Earth Altar or Heavenly Palace great realms.

Indirect mentions, however, he had.

Shen Ge's master was at the Heavenly Palace Realm!

If Zhao Fuzhou really was at the Earth Altar realm…

"Aaaoo~~!"

The giant elephant's pained, furious roar sounded again.

Chen Mu snapped back to attention, took up the Half-Spirit Bow, and swiftly drew three arrows from his quiver.

The Divine-Arm Arrows were gone.

Without their specialized arrows, the Divine-Arm Bow's power was limited.

The Half-Spirit Bow wasn't bad either.

Shhh! Shhh! Shhh~

The arrows pierced the air, streaking straight for the giant elephant's other eye.

Chen Mu did not use any True Qi—first, the Half-Spirit Bow was unstable; second, his True Qi was nearly depleted.

He'd only released the Two-Instrument Sword Qi once, yet it had consumed most of his True Qi.

Now, Chen Mu shot the arrows using only pure physical strength.

Though less lethal than the Divine-Arm Bow, they were still formidable.

Three arrows flew in rapid succession toward the giant elephant.

Huh~

The elephant's trunk suddenly swept sideways, knocking the arrows away.

"Aaaoo~~!"

The giant elephant, trembling as it crouched on the ground, roared toward Chen Mu's position, unleashing a terrifying sonic wave.

Shhh! Shhh~

Chen Mu swiftly shifted position, dodging the shockwave, circling to the side, and firing arrow after arrow in rapid succession.

Huh~ Huh~

The giant elephant's trunk whipped through the air, swatting away most of the arrows.

But several arrows slipped through the force of the trunk's swing and struck the eyes.

Plop! Plop! Plop~

A series of strange thuds followed—one arrow after another pierced the giant elephant's skull.

"Aaaooo~~~!!"

The giant elephant thrashed wildly, roaring in fury, blood and tears streaming from both eyes—until, after a final hysterical shriek, its trumpeting ceased abruptly.

"Thud~!"

Its massive body toppled sideways and crashed to the ground with a dull, heavy impact.

【Corpse detected. Collect?】

"Yes!"

The card in hand, Chen Mu immediately checked it.

He'd assumed it was a special skill card—the elephant was clearly a powerful aberrant beast—but it turned out to be a Strength Card.

Divine Strength Card!

Using this card grants the power of ten thousand jun!

One jun equals thirty jin; ten thousand jun of strength…

"Tch!"

Chen Mu sighed and tucked the card away.

His original dream had finally come true today.

He had obtained the Divine Strength Card!

The effect of the Divine Strength Card was indeed immensely powerful.

Ten thousand jun of strength!

But…

Using the Divine Strength Card did not grant ten thousand jun of strength immediately.

That strength had to grow gradually over time.

Three years!

Only after three years of using the Divine Strength Card would one gain the full ten thousand jun of strength.

Moreover, the weaker one's current strength, the better to use the Divine Strength Card.

Ideally, an ordinary person who had never cultivated Wu Gong.

Upon using the Divine Strength Card, one would steadily gain ten thousand jun of strength over three years.

The stronger one's physique, the more excruciating the pain after using the Divine Strength Card.

If Chen Mu had obtained the Divine Strength Card at the start, he would have used it immediately.

But now, even without it, he was confident he could achieve ten thousand jun of strength within three years.

With enough powerful cards paired with Body-Strengthening Cards, gaining ten thousand jun of strength was merely a matter of time.

This Divine Strength Card would be better given to someone who needed it!

…

With the giant elephant dead,

the Changsheng Sect and Black Dragon Society were now thoroughly on the losing side, crushed by the recovering Zhenwu Bureau and Nan Yun Prefecture troops.

Chen Mu, wielding the Half-Spirit Bow, shot arrow after arrow, killing anyone below the Primordial Stage.

Those he targeted had no choice but death.

Thanks to Chen Mu's long-range support, the Zhenwu Bureau and Nan Yun Prefecture troops suffered few casualties.

Boom!

From the eastern hilltop came a thunderous crash; amid a cloud of flying dust, Ouyang Kuo's loud laughter rang out.

"Ha ha, Old Tang, you can die in peace now!"

"You've lived so long—still not satisfied? If you don't die, how can your enemies rest easy?"

Boom! Boom~~!!

Two more thunderous crashes followed.

After a moment, the fighting on the eastern hilltop ceased.

The roaring sounds from the other side of the mountain also stopped.

A white-gold sword aura stretched across the sky, radiating in all directions, as Zhao Fuzhou's figure slowly rose over the hilltop.

"Where are you running?!"

"Kill~!"

"…"

The final charge echoed through the valley.

The Zhenwu Bureau and the Nan Yun Army chased down fleeing members of the Longsheng Cult and the Black Dragon Society.

Fifteen minutes later, the cries of battle in the valley ended completely.

We've won!

All members of the Longsheng Cult and the Black Dragon Society, including Tang Bi, were dead.

Soldiers from the Zhenwu Bureau and the Nan Yun Army began clearing the battlefield.

In this battle, over thirty men from the Zhenwu Bureau died; the survivors were nearly all wounded, three of them severely injured and unconscious.

The Nan Yun Army suffered even greater losses—over a hundred men died in the valley.

Bodies lay scattered among the corpses of Longsheng Cult and Black Dragon Society members.

This was even after Chen Mu had remotely assisted, slaying more than half of the post-heaven experts.

Without Chen Mu's help, casualties would have at least doubled.

Everyone knew this full well.

Wherever Chen Mu walked, whether from the Zhenwu Bureau or the Nan Yun Army, grateful glances were cast his way.

Chen Mu maintained a calm expression, walked a circuit through the valley, collected all the cards from the dead, then headed toward the eastern hilltop.

"Young brother, your archery is impressive."

Ouyang Kuo, clad in armor, stood atop a boulder halfway up the slope, watching Chen Mu approach, and said cheerfully, "Have you ever considered joining my Nan Yun Army? We need archers like you! If you come, I'll give you cultivation arts, martial techniques, pills, and spiritual weapons—like a complete mid-grade spiritual bow!"

"Only a true spiritual bow deserves your archery."

Before Chen Mu could speak, Zhao Fuzhou drifted down from the air and cut in sharply, "Ouyang General, are you really going to poach my man right in front of me?"

"Ha ha."

Ouyang Kuo laughed heartily. "This isn't poaching—we're all on the same side. If this young brother joins my Nan Yun Army, it's just a transfer of allegiance. After all, whether Zhenwu Bureau or Nan Yun Army, we all serve the Great Zhou!"

"Ouyang General, I've truly witnessed your eloquence today," Zhao Fuzhou bowed slightly.

Ouyang Kuo laughed again, "Hahaha~"

"Thank you, Ouyang General, for your high regard."

Chen Mu promptly bowed in return. "At present, I am quite content serving in the Zhenwu Bureau and have no intention of changing environments. Should I ever wish to relocate in the future, I will trouble you again, Ouyang General."

"Ha ha, it's a deal then."

Ouyang Kuo said cheerfully, "If you ever feel uncomfortable in the Zhenwu Bureau, remember to come find me in the Nan Yun Army!"

Hearing this, Chen Mu bowed again.

Ouyang Kuo's invitation was not mere politeness.

He had just killed the Black Dragon Society's head in Nan Yun Prefecture—Tang Bi—and his strength was formidable; cultivating goodwill with such a military commander could only be beneficial.

As for joining the army—that was out of the question.

Chen Mu was very satisfied with his position as Inspector of the Zhenwu Bureau.

But once his official title as Inspector was formally granted, he would have to leave Nan Yun Prefecture and be assigned elsewhere to oversee.

Every Inspector was subject to this rule.

Once appointed as Inspector, one had to leave one's place of origin and be sent elsewhere.

The purpose was simple: to prevent Inspectors from colluding with local factions.

This was standard procedure.

For Chen Mu, it was unnecessary.

He had risen too quickly and had barely interacted with the major local powers of Nan Yun Prefecture.

Among the several clans, he had only decent relations with Tang Tianhao and Zheng Qianrou.

Still, being assigned elsewhere wouldn't matter.

Collecting cards from corpses—wherever he went, he could still collect them.

…

He climbed the hill to collect the card left behind after Tang Bi's death.

To that end, he exchanged a few words with Ouyang Kuo and Zhao Fuzhou, then excused himself under the pretense of observing their battle zone to sense the momentum of a late-stage primordial clash, and moved away from them.

After a moment, he collected one Qi card from Tang Bi's corpse.

Fourteen months of Qi!

He passed through the breached cave and arrived on the other side of the mountain, collecting another card.

From the corpse of the Longsheng Cult's head in Nan Yun Prefecture!

Another True Qi Card — one year and five months!

What a haul!

Tang Bi and the person in charge of the Longevity Cult in Nanyun — these two alone contributed two years and nine months of True Qi.

Add to that the True Qi Card picked up from the Innate-stage expert who had been driving the giant elephant, killed earlier.

"I can try to break through to the Second Stage of Heaven!"

Chen Mu was delighted in his heart, though his face showed no change.

Breaking through to the Second Stage of Heaven — he had no idea how much external True Qi it would require.

He'd know once he got back and gave it a try.

……

The great battle was over.

The sky had darkened completely.

None of the remaining personnel of the Zhenwu Division or the Nanyun Government Army were in any hurry to leave.

Torch after torch flared to life across the valley.

Chen Mu, along with a squad from the Zhenwu Division, entered the Black Dragon Society's stronghold within the valley.

It was located inside an underground karst cave.

The cave was vast, with several tunnels branching off inside, partitioning it into a number of stone chambers.

The cultivation resources the Black Dragon Society had stored there were inventoried and packed up one by one.

Chen Mu did not intervene; he merely walked into one of the information rooms.

This stone chamber held row upon row of bookshelves, each shelf lined with bound ledgers.

Chen Mu picked one up, flipped through it at random, and could not help the corners of his mouth curling up.

"The Black Dragon Society actually kept a written record of every client who hired them to commit murder."

From what Chen Mu had learned about the Black Dragon Society—

The Black Dragon Society's reputation was so good, and it had always maintained peaceful relations with all the major powers, precisely because it never left any records whenever it took on a job.

Only in this way would the major powers allow them to operate.

Contract killing, after all, could not be exposed.

Once exposed, the fallout would be enormous.

Yet these ledgers here had gone and recorded everything.

"Is this a long-standing tradition of the Black Dragon Society? Or was it something Tang Bi did on his own?"

Tang Bi had joined the Longevity Cult — if he had secretly ordered people to keep these records on his own, that would also make sense.

Why?

Because with these secrets, Tang Bi could hold every client in Nanyun who had hired a killer in the palm of his hand!

Just in the ledger Chen Mu was flipping through, there were already records of the Pan family, the Zheng family, and the Gao family hiring killers.

"Oh, right!"

Suddenly, Chen Mu recalled something and began walking around the stone chamber, searching for the most recent ledger of clients who had hired killers.

A moment later, Chen Mu found the ledger and looked for his own name.

Sure enough, there was a record!

"Li Qiancheng? Li Xiangyang's younger cousin?"