Chapter 355

Night fell.

A blue-green moon, with a thin azure border, hung high in the void.

In the mountain forest, misty vapor rose; huge birds glided soundlessly through the high sky, occasionally swooping down to seize prey, their claws dripping with blood when they flew back up.

Wu Tie stood at the foot of a steep cliff, stepping on a giant horned python.

This guy had just sneaked up behind Wu Tie, intending to make him a midnight snack. Unfortunately, this big guy completely misjudged the strength disparity between himself and Wu Tie.

Zhao Zhu's gifted six‑fold spirit weapon was extremely sharp; the python's hide, nearly dragon‑transformed and two cun thick, was torn apart like tissue paper beneath the long‑handled miao blade.

Wu Tie swiftly stripped off the snake's skin, casually tossed it into a nearby ditch, then took the choicest chunk of meat from the carcass.

He lit a bonfire, skewered the snake meat over it, Wu Tie opened his eyes, and a hazy, chaotic divine light flickered in his pupils as he gazed out over the mountains.

In Wu Tie's sight, all flora turned transparent; within a hundred li, the mountains and forests offered no concealment, every large beast hidden within laid bare—of course, this also included those following the Hua family's party.

Wu Tie believed only a small part of what Zhao Zhu had said during the day.

This guy is a member of Hua Tianluo; that statement might be true. But to say how much he worries about Hua Xin Xin's safety… heh.

This guy spouts nonsense; if he hadn't given Wu Tie a good blade, Wu Tie would have punched him away long ago.

Would he worry about Hua Xin Xin's safety?

All those worries about "melon fields and plum trees" are nonsense; the Hua family patriarch wouldn't be so muddled as to think Hua Tianluo plotted to harm Hua Xin Xin, and the excuses Zhao Zhu gave Wu Tie are merely excuses.

Zhao Zhu was indeed tailing and monitoring Hua Xin Xin; that's true.

However, seeing that Hua Xin Xin's side had undergone a major upheaval, events slipped somewhat out of control, veering toward an unpredictable direction; this fellow's forces were short‑handed, so he temporarily called in the local strongman Huo Xiong for help.

This is Wu Tie's speculation as to the real reason Zhao Zhu sought him out for no apparent cause.

"None of them are good people—each one sly and wicked." Wu Tie lifted a clay jar of salt and carefully sprinkled it over the snake meat.

"None of them are good things, especially those old fogeys—each one is thoroughly wicked." Lao Tie's voice came from within Wu Tie, and he fumed: "Now all I can do is watch you brat eat meat and drink wine, enjoying the rich and spicy fare."

Wu Tie patted his chest and said softly: "There's nothing to be done; when I get the chance, I'll let you old man come out for a breather."

Wu Tie gave a strange grin and said: "Especially those old things—each one is utterly wicked… Hmm, Lao Tie, you're not exactly young yourself; you're a wicked thing too? Hahaha!"

Wu Tie laughed, while Lao Tie unleashed a torrent of curses.

Both Wu Tie and Lao Tie marveled at the divine powers of the Witch Prison. As one of Osiris's innate divine artifacts, the Tower of Rebirth was forcibly shattered by the Witch Prison's terrifying power into the finest particles.

Each particle fused with a single cell of Wu Tie's body.

Wu Tie effectively became a humanoid Tower of Rebirth; his flesh, down to every hair, gained terrifying defensive power. Moreover, the fusion of those particles with his cells is imperceptible to outsiders—there is no outward sign of change in his body.

The White Tiger Fissure and several other treasures underwent the same treatment at the hands of the Witch Prison.

Wu Tie now embodies a fusion of the Tower of Rebirth, White Tiger Fissure, Tree of Abundance, Banner of Scattered Souls, and Northern Dipper Soul‑Slaying Sword; this bizarre bodily state took him several days to adapt to.

"Sizzle, sputter"—the fat in the snake meat rendered out, dripping into the fire and making a faint sound.

Suddenly, a low shout echoed from the distant mountains, blades flashing; then a bolt of lightning slammed down from the heavens, crashing heavily into the forest. Dozens of large trees were shattered by the blast, splinters flying everywhere and igniting a raging fire.

Like a fuse, the entire forest was instantly ignited, and within a radius of about a hundred li, dozens of skirmishes erupted simultaneously.

In the camps of the Hua and Ren families, several Hua family guard captains led large groups roaming about, shouting to suppress the artisans and laborers in the camp.

In the Ren family's camp, dozens of figures used the mountain mist to perform water‑escape, slipping out of the camp and rushing into the forest. Shrill cries rang out; these twenty‑plus Ren fighters formed a battle array, charging back and forth in the woods, killing anyone they encountered.

Five Embryo Storage Realm experts led the unit, the rest being Life Pool Realm cultivators; this Ren detachment was formidable, their coordination seamless, making any obscure small squads in the forest no match for them.

The fighting lasted for about half an hour; when that Ren squad returned to camp, the forest had fallen into a deathly silence.

After a long while, the blood‑soaked Zhao Zhu helped a gravely injured man, staggering over to Wu Tie and dropping heavily onto the ground beside the fire.

Wu Tie sliced off a piece of snake meat and handed it over, eyeing Zhao Zhu and the wounded man curiously: "You look a mess—have some meat, replenish your blood."

Zhao Zhu glared angrily at Wu Tie: "Just now we were fighting—you were supposed to help us."

Wu Tie instantly tossed his six‑fold spirit blade back into Zhao Zhu's bosom: "Do you think I'm stupid? I promised to guarantee Hua Xin Xin's safety, not to help you brawl and kill!"

He lifted his head and sneered: "Those are Ren family people… the Ren family, you know? One of the strongest major clans in Flower Insect City! My Huo family is just a minor military household; although I'm a Divine Martial Army lieutenant, my kin still have to live in Flower Insect City."

"I'm helping you protect Hua Xin Xin—I never said I'd sell myself to you!"

"Help you fight?" Wu Tie pointed at his own nose: "I'm merely a Life Pool Realm cultivator, while they have five Embryo Storage Realm experts… and just one six‑fold spirit blade—is that worth my life?"

Zhao Zhu opened his mouth, but for a moment could find no words.

The gravely injured man drew a deep breath and said in a low voice: "Old Zhao, Lieutenant Huo is right—he has no reason to risk his life for us… Good grief, I never expected the Ren family to possess such experts."

Wu Tie chuckled: "You didn't say—you're Hua family members? If you revealed your identities, the Ren family wouldn't dare lay a lethal hand on you."

Zhao Zhu and the injured man's faces darkened simultaneously; Zhao Zhu gritted his teeth, flung the six‑fold spirit blade to Wu Tie, and said in a solemn tone: "This… in short, it's not something we can speak of openly."

Wu Tie loved watching Zhao Zhu suffer a loss and be unable to speak up about it.

Just now Wu Tie saw clearly: Zhao Zhu and that wounded man, leading a few dozen Hua family elites, launched a surprise attack on the assassins Wu Tie had seen in Flower Insect City who were targeting Hua Xin Xin.

As a result, among the assassins, the expert who had slain Hua family's Ninth Steward with thunder magic suddenly went berserk; Zhao Zhu and his companions were caught off guard, and that bolt of lightning inflicted heavy casualties. The wounded man beside Zhao Zhu was precisely the one whose two protective talismans were shattered by that lightning strike.

The two sides hadn't yet decided a winner when the Ren family's troop suddenly rushed in.

Those assassins ran like the wind, Zhao Shu and the others were surrounded squarely by the Ren family's troop, who then went on a frenzied slaughter; of Zhao Shu's group of over twenty, only the two of them managed to escape.

Unlucky kid.

Wu Tie pulled out a bottle of standard-issue Divine Martial Army external injury medicine, casually tossed it to the severely wounded man: "Try our 'Divine Martial Ointment,' the Divine Martial Army's secret formula, extremely effective for external injuries, far better than the usual medicines of great clans... Uh, may I ask your honored name?"

The severely wounded man accepted the Divine Martial Ointment and thanked Wu Tie: "Zhao Wu… Zhao Shu, they are my paternal cousins; we all serve the Second Young Master."

Wu Tie nodded, sat cross-legged by the campfire, eating meat and drinking wine, and no longer paid any attention to Zhao Wu and Zhao Shu.

Zhao Wu and Zhao Shu also sat cross-legged to heal their wounds, entered a meditative state, and likewise ignored Wu Tie.

As dawn approached, the campfire had dwindled to a pile of white ash and a few chunks of ember giving off blue smoke; a large piece of snake meat had been completely eaten by Wu Tie, and three large empty wine jars were left beside the fire.

Wu Tie stretched, stood up, brandishing his Miao blade, and performed the Divine Martial Army's standard 'Divine Martial Eight Blades' move by move, extremely slowly; though the blade movements were slow, they exuded a fierce killing intent—this is a sword technique specially designed for slaughter on the battlefield.

Zhao Wu and Zhao Shu also opened their eyes and simultaneously exhaled a long breath.

Zhao Shu was fine, but the breath Zhao Wu exhaled turned dark red, reeking strongly of blood. Obviously, he had suffered severe internal injuries the previous night; this long breath expelled all the stagnant blood from his body.

After applying the Divine Martial Ointment, the dozens of disordered sword and blade wounds on Zhao Wu's body had all healed; he rubbed his body, and scabs fell off one after another—every wound was healed, leaving hardly any scars.

The two brothers took out some blood-qi replenishing pills, swallowed them, stood up, and stretched their bodies just like Wu Tie.

Wu Tie sheathed his blade, looked seriously at Zhao Tung and Zhao Yi, and said: "As the local tyrant of Flower Insect City, out of respect for this Six-Tempered Spirit Blade, I'll give you two a heads-up."

"First, among the five Fetal Storage Realm experts last night, at least three… are not from the Ren Family."

As a native of Flower Insect City, Huo Xiong is still familiar with those renowned experts of the Ren Family.

The Ren Family has many Fetal Storage Realm experts, but in Huo Xiong's memory, there were no three such experts who suddenly appeared yesterday.

The Ren Family's cultivation follows the Water Principle, yet the power those three displayed last night—bloody, dark, mysterious, slick—felt like a poisonous snake; they could not possibly be Ren Family members.

"Second, haven't you noticed? Last night, the Ren Family's people were the first to rush over and cause you trouble… they seemed to know you were besieging those assassins. Moreover, those assassins did escape safely, while your side almost got wiped out."

"You're right, Hua Xinxin fell into the pit. The Ren Family and those assassins are clearly involved."

Wu Tie looked at Zhao Tung and Zhao Yi, leisurely asking: "So I'm curious— as a Colonel of the Divine Martial Army, maintaining local peace is my duty… I wonder one thing: is your Flower Family really here to prospect for ore this time, or are you up to something else?"

Zhao Tung and Zhao Yi also stared at Wu Tie, looking bewildered.

"Of course it is—prospecting… the Second Young Master's side is indeed here for prospecting, and nothing else happened along the way." Zhao Tung frowned seriously and said to Wu Tie: "But the Young Master's side…"

Wu Tie lifted his head and gazed toward the distant mountain range.

"As the local tyrant of Flower Insect City, I've never heard of anything strange in the mountains around here… Hmm…"

A faint tearing sound came from afar as a capable squad of Ren Family members flew over rapidly toward this spot.

"Whoosh…" Wu Tie waved his hand, telling Zhao Tung and Zhao Yi: "Rest assured, as long as I can do it, I'll guarantee Hua Xinxin's safety… out of respect for this Six-Tempered Spirit Blade."

"However, as a Colonel of the Divine Martial Army, I warn you… don't let your Flower Family's internal strife bring trouble to Flower Insect City. I hate trouble." Wu Tie gave Zhao Tung a deep look: "Even if you are a Fetal Storage Realm expert… it won't do."

Wu Tie's body flickered, and with a "swish" he vanished into the forest.

Zhao Tung and Zhao Yi glanced at each other, and Zhao Tung muttered angrily: "Damn it, this guy obviously took the benefits but isn't doing his job properly… warning me? We'll see."

Zhao Tung and Zhao Yi didn't dare to fly, instead they hurried through the forest on foot.

In the Flower Family camp far off, several foremen led crews busy at the prospecting pit dug yesterday for earth veins and earth qi.

Here it's been proven that there's something good below; a large crew of laborers with tools gradually dug out the ground, quickly excavating a huge pit with a radius of about ten zhang and a depth of seven or eight zhang.

Specialist cultivators assisted on the side, using earth-attribute secret techniques to reinforce the pit walls so they wouldn't collapse.

They used spells to loosen soil and stone, making the laborers' digging much easier.

After a morning's work, the pit had already been dug to over a hundred zhang deep when suddenly a cheer rang out; several foremen and dozens of experienced craftsmen shouted in unison.

A layer of bluish shimmering rock was exposed below; the foreman leader, stout as a dwarf, laughed loudly: "Azure Mud Gold, good stuff, ha, good stuff! Quick, survey it clearly—how much reserve do we have here?"

Wu Tie crouched on a distant mountain cliff, over a hundred li away, yet he still took in every breeze and blade of grass here.

The Ren Family's troops began sweeping the forest, driving away any idle onlookers lurking nearby.

But against Wu Tie, they had no recourse… they couldn't even detect his presence.

As for Zhao Tung and Zhao Yi, the Ren Family's search parties found them over a dozen times in just five days; each time they were chased into frantic, scattered flight across the hills, a sight truly wretched to the extreme.

The Flower Family's prospecting squad kept drilling along the mountain range toward the southwest; in five days they had sunk two or three thousand prospecting pits.

But Wu Tie faintly sensed that the people in charge of the Flower Family's prospecting showed no genuine joy.

They hadn't found what they were looking for.

No matter what they sought, Wu Tie felt they were not genuinely here to prospect.