Chapter 110

"Yes!"

[Corpse discovered, do you wish to loot?]

"Yes!"

Corpses covered the ground, blood flowed.

Chen Mu looted the cards one by one, finally looking at Guan Xingce, who had one leg sliced off and was lying in a pool of blood.

"Spare... spare my life..."

Guan Xingce struggled to beg for mercy while vomiting blood. "Young Hero Nie, I was wrong. As long as you let me go, I'll give you money, fifty thousand taels... no, one hundred thousand taels of silver!"

"And spiritual weapons, my villa has three low-grade spiritual weapons, all of them fine quality."

"And..."

Ssh~!

The sword light condensed into a line, cutting through the air and sweeping across Guan Xingce’s neck.

Guan Xingce’s pleading stopped abruptly, his face remaining filled with panic and despair, the light in his eyes fading rapidly.

Thump~

A line of blood sprayed, and his head fell.

[Corpse discovered, do you wish to loot?]

"Yes!"

The card was in hand; he unfolded it to check.

A four-month true qi card!

The card looted from Tie Xiangtong was also a true qi card, six months of true qi.

As for the others, most were internal energy cards, ranging from three months to nine months.

These internal energy cards, added to the ones previously accumulated, brought his total internal energy cultivation back to ten years, and even exceeded it by more than a year.

Previously, ten years of internal energy was roughly equivalent to one year of true qi.

Now, with over eleven years of internal energy, converted and absorbed through the "Heavenly River Art," it should also amount to one year of true qi.

Chen Mu had already figured out the "Heavenly River True Qi" cultivated by the "Heavenly River Art."

In appearance, it presented as tiny, dense points, just like the stars in the night sky.

When released externally in small amounts, it wasn't very clear.

But when released in large quantities, they connected into a single piece, looking like stars twinkling in a river.

Even if the sword speed was fast, people with high cultivation could still see it.

When Chen Mu killed the young man supporting Sun Jindong, the "Fate-Reversing Saber" was fully unleashed; although the amount of true qi released at once wasn't large, it was different when it extended and spread.

There were tiny starlights within the saber glow!

This was the reason Fang Yuanfu had noticed the true qi sound transmission.

If paired with the "Heaven-Fighting Sword," and the true qi released was sufficient, the sword qi released would look like a patch of starlight within a flowing, clear stream!

The starlight merged into the water flow; if one didn't look closely, one couldn't see it.

However, when the amount of true qi was small, the starlight was almost invisible.

If the sword speed was fast enough, even an Earth Realm expert wouldn't be able to see it!

Just like just now, when Chen Mu defeated Guan Xingce and Tie Xiangtong with one sword, he had used the "Heaven-Fighting Sword," and the amount of true qi used was very small.

Paired with the newly obtained mid-grade spiritual sword, Guan Xingce and Tie Xiangtong couldn't even take a single move.

Chen Mu thought for a moment and named this sword "Lone Star"!

Crouching Tiger Bow, Demon-Slaying Saber, Lone Star Sword!

Both the bow and the sword were mid-grade.

Compared to the Crouching Tiger Bow, the Lone Star Sword was a cut above, only lacking attribute enhancement to reach high-grade.

But Chen Mu discovered that the Lone Star Sword also possessed a special aura.

Cold! Lonely!

This special property perfectly matched the "Heavenly River True Qi," achieving an effect where one plus one is greater than two.

A rich, bloody smell permeated the mountain forest.

The low growls and howls of wild beasts approached rapidly from the distance.

Chen Mu sheathed his sword and searched the corpses of Guan Xingce and Tie Xiangtong, obtaining several silver banknotes, several throwing darts, and three bottles of elixirs.

One of the bottles was actually a Yuan-Nurturing Pill, and a high-grade one at that.

Chen Mu didn't want to use elixirs to improve his cultivation unless absolutely necessary.

Because elixirs all had pill toxins that would remain in the body after consumption, requiring time to purge afterward.

But for now, he would use them first and worry later.

At the second stage of the Innate Realm, being a supervisor for the Martial Suppression Office of a prefecture, his cultivation was indeed a bit low.

High-grade Yuan-Nurturing Pill, internal energy cards, true qi cards.

Added together, these should be enough to charge toward the third stage of the Innate Realm!

Thinking of this.

Chen Mu quickly left Tiger King Ridge.

Traveling rapidly, by evening, he found a natural cave on a hilltop.

He checked the cave, confirmed there was no threat, and found a giant rock to block the entrance.

Afterward, he sat cross-legged on a clean stone slab, took out the Yuan-Nurturing Pill, swallowed them one by one, and operated the "Heavenly River Art" to absorb them, converting them into true qi.

Once all the Yuan-Nurturing Pills were used up, he took out the internal energy cards.

He used all the accumulated internal energy cards at once, and a large mass of energy was born out of thin air within his body, pushing the "Heavenly River Art" to run, condensing and forming his own true qi, increasing his cultivation.

Sure enough, the increased "Heavenly River True Qi" amounted to almost one year.

He didn't stop.

He took out the true qi cards, using them one after another to increase his true qi, bringing his cultivation to the perfection of the second stage of the Innate Realm, and then launched the charge.

Charging toward the third stage of the Innate Realm!

Once, twice, three times...

Bang~ Bang~ Bang~!

His heartbeat was like a drum, resounding in his ears.

Whoosh~

His blood circulated like a rushing river.

In the dantian space, the "Heavenly River True Qi" swirled repeatedly, using quantitative change to impact qualitative change.

Finally, accompanied by a trembling hum, Chen Mu’s whole body vibrated; as the "Heavenly River True Qi" expanded by a circle, his blood and qi became even more vigorous.

The enhancement of essence and qi stimulated his spirit, which grew along with it.

Hum~

A tiny trembling hum surrounded his whole body.

A layer of faint light film covered his entire body, wrapping him up.

Third stage of the Innate Realm, True Qi as Clothing!

Compared to the shield of the second stage, which only protected the front, the protection range of the third stage expanded several times, protecting front, back, left, right, up, and down.

The first three stages of the Innate Realm were all about accumulating true qi, increasing true qi, and tempering true qi.

"Hoo~~"

Stopping his cultivation, Chen Mu opened his eyes and spat out a breath of turbid air, which shot out more than ten meters and lingered in the air without dissipating.

"The 'Heavenly River Art' is powerful, but it's difficult to improve."

"The next realm, the fourth stage of the Innate Realm, is a threshold; the number of true qi cards required is at least ten years' worth!"

Chen Mu’s eyes were calm, and he pondered inwardly.

In the martial path, the further one goes, the harder it is to improve.

No matter how talented a person is, they cannot do without cultivation resources.

Without external energy supplementation, where does internal energy come from? Where does true qi come from?

Drawing from the power of heaven and earth to strengthen oneself is something the Innate Realm cannot do.

Even the Earth Realm can't!

Stepping into the third stage of the Innate Realm, his strength increased by another notch.

By the time he arrived at Tai'an Prefecture, Chen Mu had completely purged the slight pill toxins from his body.

Tai'an Prefecture also had a "Hero Tower."

If one wants to understand the distribution of forces in a place, entering the "Hero Tower" is the most convenient way.

Chen Mu disguised himself slightly, chose a corner in the first-floor lobby, ordered some side dishes and rice wine, and listened to the conversations of the surrounding martial artists while eating.

At first, all he heard were gossip, rumors, or lively events.

Until someone mentioned the two words "Chen Mu"!

"A sixteen-year-old Hidden Dragon prodigy, impressive."

"I remember Nanyun Prefecture is not even as good as our Tai'an Prefecture; it's truly remarkable that such a small place produced a prodigy."

"I wonder what this 'Chen Mu' looks like?"

"What he looks like doesn't matter; Chen Mu’s identity is the key! A hall master of the Great Saber Gang, a hall master of a prefecture-level gang, actually became a Hidden Dragon prodigy; that's what's truly amazing, isn't it?"

"..."

Nanyun Prefecture, Great Saber Gang Hall Master, Chen Mu.

Combining this information...

"When did I get on the 'Hidden Dragon List' and become a prodigy?"