Chapter 324: Secret Transaction

Wu Tie and Lao Tie were struck out of the great hall by Mr. Mu, sent flying out of the fortress.

Mr. Mu's force was extremely strong; the two could not control themselves, flying out of the fortress at extremely high speed for over a hundred li before barely stabilizing their bodies.

Along the way they encountered a huge swarm of poisonous bats; they slammed straight through the swarm at extreme speed, countless bats shattered, and the two were covered head to toe in blood and flesh, in a miserable state.

After finally stabilizing their posture, countless poisonous bats around them instantly burst into flames.

In the rear, over a hundred li away, among the troop of soldiers and officers who had rushed out of the fortress, a gaunt-faced middle-aged man had a golden treasure mirror a thousand zhang in diameter appear above his head, and a brilliant golden light spewing flames shone toward them.

The massive swarm of poisonous bats burned, shrieked, and then turned into wisps of black smoke that shot up into the sky.

Wu Tie and Lao Tie were hit by the golden light; Lao Tie was fine, for he was not of flesh and blood, his body formed from a divine artifact easily withstood the light's power.

Wu Tie, however, was in trouble.

His filthy blood and flesh instantly vaporized, then golden flames erupted over ten zhang high on Wu Tie's body, his hair instantly scorched away, and his flesh began to blaze fiercely.

Heart‑wrenching pain struck, Wu Tie let out a low groan and cast the Fire Avoidance Spell; a cool air swirled around him, the golden flames on his surface vanished instantly, and the scorching heat disappeared at once.

The middle‑aged man snorted coldly; the original thousand‑zhang‑thick golden beam suddenly contracted inward, instantly becoming as thick as a bowl's rim.

A near‑substantial golden lance stabbed straight toward Wu Tie's heart.

Wu Tie's heart lurched; he shot upward, but the light came too fast—having risen just over two feet, the golden light swept across his waist and abdomen.

Sizzle!

On Wu Tie's right side abdomen, a large chunk of flesh and organs vaporized outright; the golden light grazed a portion of his ribs and spine, turning the dark bones glowing red, while nearby flesh emitted the aroma of roasted meat.

Intense pain surged; Wu Tie's vision darkened and he nearly fainted.

He let out a long whistle, pointed his right hand at the middle‑aged man, and heard thirty‑six successive booms: azure, violet, and black—twelve bolts each as thick as a water tank—Three Heavens Divine Thunder crashed down straight onto the man's crown.

The middle‑aged man likewise let out a miserable howl.

He cultivated the Divine Fetus and magical power, paying no attention to tempering his flesh.

Seeing his natal spirit treasure gravely wound Wu Tie, the middle‑aged man lowered his guard against Wu Tie. He never imagined Wu Tie would counter‑attack, and that his thunder magic, despite being a hundred li away, would erupt with power comparable to the Embryonic Storage Realm.

The middle‑aged man's armor shattered with a boom, the first wave of twelve azure lightning bolts being neutralized by the armor.

Then his battle‑clothes beneath the armor exploded apart, neutralizing twelve violet lightning bolts and three black ones.

Finally, nine lightning bolts struck his body.

He lacked Wu Tie's formidable physique; his entire upper half instantly vaporized in the thunder, and his lower half exploded into a spray of blood mist.

Blood and qi surged; within the blood mist a gleaming golden‑flamed humanoid Divine Fetus shot out, flailing its limbs as it clung desperately to the golden treasure mirror, crying: "You brat… you, you, you dare damage this general's dharma body!"

Upon reaching the Embryonic Storage Realm, the physical body is not important for many cultivators who specialize in magical arts.

If the body is ruined, as long as the Divine Fetus remains intact, one can at any time seize a superior‑quality flesh and be reborn.

A seized body, no matter how excellent, can never compare to one painstakingly forged over countless years; the direct effects are at least a seventy percent reduction in escape speed, at least a fifty percent drop in casting speed, and one's strength is more than halved.

Without expending massive resources or arduous effort, a newly acquired body cannot be trained back to its original level.

Moreover, where could one find a body of such superb quality?

If one waits too long, the Divine Fetus loses more vital energy, making the loss even graver!

Thus the Embryonic Storage Realm officer, furious and panting, waved his hands and promised rich rewards to his comrades: whoever kills Wu Tie will receive his great recompense.

Over two hundred Embryonic Storage Realm experts surged forward.

But this time it was obvious that a burly crowd of body‑cultivating officers led the charge.

The magical cultivators, meanwhile, produced various defensive treasures, their bodies suffused with multicolored jewel light and rosy aura, wrapping themselves like zongzi before continuing the pursuit.

Wu Tie caught his breath, pulled out a vial of medicine, and quickly stuffed it into his mouth.

The Wu family's secret concoction is many times more potent than taking raw prime herb directly; especially since these pills also contain spiritual herbs and even a portion of immortal herb juice, their power is vastly greater and far purer than ordinary prime herb—over a hundred times stronger.

Seeing Wu Tie's waist and organs missing half, rapidly regenerating, he glanced at the pursuers behind, sighed, and turned to leave.

He transformed into a golden streak, the terrifying speed of the Vertical Gold Light technique fully displayed; in a breath he threw the pursuers two hundred li behind.

Lao Tie merely shuddered, turning into a black gust that clung to the tail of Wu Tie's golden streak.

Although Lao Tie is not skilled in evasion techniques, with Wu Tie leading him he even felt like howling "ao ao" a few times at the troops behind.

Among the over two hundred Embryonic Storage Realm officers, immediately seven or eight magical cultivators and one body cultivator let out a long whistle, shouted to their comrades "Sorry, we'll go ahead first," then also turned into golden streaks and chased after Wu Tie.

They employed the same Vertical Gold Light Escape Technique.

Moreover, two of those magical cultivators were of exceptionally high attainment; their grasp of the Vertical Gold Light far surpassed Wu Tie's—though Wu Tie had just shaken them off by over two hundred li, they closed to within a hundred li in the span of a breath.

At a distance of less than a hundred li, the two magical cultivators acted together.

A flying sword transformed into a flood dragon, roaring as it slashed toward Wu Tie.

A black‑and‑white cloth sack shot high into the air, its mouth opened, a gale burst forth, and then an invisible suction suddenly reduced Wu Tie's escape speed by thirty percent.

Just a moment's delay, and the two cultivators closed to within less than a thousand zhang behind Wu Tie.

The azure flood dragon formed from the sword light, swift as lightning, caught up to Wu Tie and heavily chopped at his back‑heart.

Wu Tie had first been struck heavily by Mr. Mu, shattering his clothes and armor; then the golden treasure mirror scorched him, burning the scraps of cloth at his waist to ash. Now Wu Tie is completely naked, and the two cultivators clearly see the sword light tearing a long gash behind him.

From his right shoulder to his left hip, Wu Tie's body was nearly split in two by that blow.

The two cultivators even heard the pleasant "splitch" of flesh being torn by a blade; with their vast experience they judged from the sound of the sword ripping Wu Tie's flesh that his flesh toughness was comparable to that of a novice body cultivator in the Embryonic Storage Realm.

However, that is only compared to a novice body cultivator of the Embryonic Storage Realm.

These two are peak Embryonic Storage Realm cultivators, and this sword is a top‑tier immortal weapon. Even a high‑level body cultivator of the Embryonic Storage Realm, lacking a protective treasure, could be cut down by a single strike.

But the two cultivators' gazes instantly turned extremely strange.

The immortal weapon's flying sword sliced Wu Tie's back, his flesh indeed being easily cut open.

Yet within the clear, pleasant sound of flesh tearing, a sharp metallic clang mingled; they even saw fine sparks within Wu Tie's wound.

The immortal weapon's flying sword swept across Wu Tie's back, revealing the dark bones beneath his flesh.

Such a keen immortal weapon's flying sword merely etched a barely perceptible trace on Wu Tie's spinal bone.

The two magical cultivators simultaneously sucked in a cold breath.

In their minds, some heretical cultivation methods for specially tempering bones flashed through.

But that's not right; those cultivation methods specializing in tempering bones absolutely cannot cultivate such a divine ability as Vertical Earth Golden Light.

"「This brat, there's something strange…… No wonder the Taotie Clan's people have all suffered losses at his hands. Capture him! 」 The cultivator who had taken out a cloth bag and tightly clung to Wu Tie shouted sharply, his eyes filled with greed."

"「Keep farther away, keep even farther away. 」 The sword-flying cultivator who was slashing hastily lowered his voice, gesturing to his comrades by shaking his head."

Behind them, a few hundred li away, several golden streaks were swiftly pursuing; although their speed was slightly slower, the mighty Fetal Storage Realm cultivators could not fail to notice what was happening here.

To capture Wu Tie alive and monopolize the secret on his body, the only way was to let him flee farther, so that the two could then move in.

Such a secret is too much for two people to share, let alone with so many others behind them.

The cultivator who had produced the cloth bag nodded in understanding, took a deep breath, and the spiritual light inside the bag flickered, suddenly changing from its original suction force into a powerful thrust.

Whoosh—Wu Tie's escape light instantly sped up by more than double.

The two cultivators rapidly burned their mana, not hesitating to expend some essence-blood energy, and also accelerated to keep up with Wu Tie.

Seeing the three golden streaks ahead suddenly accelerate, the pursuers behind, whose speed surged, covered a hundred li in an instant; after a few flashes, they had already vanished behind the extremely distant mountains.

"Damn it!" The Fetal Storage Realm experts all shouted in anger, especially the one who, difficulty pursuing while steering a golden treasure mirror, cursed hysterically, pointing at the sky and drawing on the earth.

In the distance, over a hundred Demon-Suppressing Army warships approached from this side.

Obviously, the Demon-Suppressing Army noticed the movement here, fearing that these over two hundred Fetal Storage Realm commanders would launch a surprise attack, so they dispatched large numbers of reinforcements.

A group of hot-tempered soldier commanders glanced at each other, simultaneously snorted coldly, and then marched forward to meet those warships.

After painstakingly pursuing and killing, they hadn't even gained a single hair's worth of benefit; it would be better to behead a few heads and bring them back, each counting as some merit.

A small-scale, extremely intense battle erupted instantly.

After a quarter hour, over fifty warships were blown up; the soldier commanders under Xi Qi suffered over twenty serious injuries, slew three enemy Fetal Storage Realm commanders, over a hundred Life Pool Realm Commandants, and several thousand Chonglou Realm soldiers, then reluctantly turned back.

Inside the fort.

Luo Lin sat behind the desk, wearing a faint smile, waiting quietly.

Mr. Mu's decisive and ruthless actions made Luo Lin very satisfied.

No wonder he is the assistant specially arranged by Xi Qi; Mr. Mu is not only incomparably strong in strength, but also exceptionally ruthless and resolute in character—with him making a move, Wu Tie is sure to die.

Even…… Mr. Mu had slain Taotie Yuan and others, and Luo Lin felt extremely satisfied with his actions.

Before, he, Luo Lin, the young master, was merely a petty lackey hanging around behind the Taotie Clan's young master, the kind of lackey who stays behind to settle the bill when others go to pleasure houses to find girls.

But now, what about Taotie Yuan? What about the Taotie Clan's Fetal Storage Realm Elder?

Damn it, isn't he still dead?

This is the wonderful taste of power; this is the lofty feeling brought by strength.

This feeling is great.

Luo Lin leaned back in the grand chair, smiling broadly, quietly waiting for the news of Wu Tie's beheading to return.

Mr. Mu changed into a long robe, properly treated the wound from his own sword, and then stood silently beside Luo Lin.

Time passed bit by bit, after a long while, finally the clamor arrived; a group of soot-covered, blood-drenched soldier commanders ran back. They sheepishly told Luo Lin that two comrades were still pursuing Wu Tie, while they…… had gotten into a chaotic battle midway and fled back.

The heads of three Demon-Suppressing Army commanders, dozens of Demon-Suppressing Army commandants, and over a thousand Demon-Suppressing Army elite soldiers were piled in the square outside the hall; this is the merit this group of commanders established on this expedition.

Luo Lin's face darkened.

"Trash." He said to Mr. Mu.

Mr. Mu shook his head, saying nothing.

Luo Lin sighed: "However many, there are still two people pursuing; let's wait."

This wait lasted a day and a night.

The next day, when the full moon rose high, that faint spark of anticipation in Luo Lin's heart finally extinguished. The two soldier commanders failed to return with a report; obviously something had happened to them. Otherwise, how could a mere Life Pool Realm Wu Tie possibly make them waste so much time?

"Mr. Mu?" Luo Lin looked toward Mr. Mu.

"It's about time." Mr. Mu looked at Luo Lin: "Sir, we should set out. There is a transaction that must be handled by you personally. This is the true purpose of Marshal Qi commissioning me to assist you, to have you serve as the army's adjutant."

"In the future, when you rise to prominence and ascend smoothly, don't forget old me." Mr. Mu actually gave a hehe laugh.

Luo Lin's curiosity was immediately aroused by Mr. Mu.

His true biological father, Xi Qi, had actually arranged a secret mission for him? Interesting, interesting—what kind of transaction will this transaction be?

After a quarter hour, Mr. Mu and Luo Lin changed clothes, donned the standard armor of ordinary mid-level officers, left the fort unnoticed through a newly dug secret passage, crossed the Great Rift Valley, and flew toward the core region of the Da Jin Divine Kingdom.

After passing the Great Rift Valley by five hundred li, Mr. Mu took out two sets of Demon-Suppressing Army standard armor for Luo Lin to wear properly, and then they continued onward.

Along the way they encountered many patrolling Demon-Suppressing Army soldiers; Mr. Mu silently took out a token and waved it, allowing him and Luo Lin to pass smoothly through the Demon-Suppressing Army's cordon.