Chapter 265: Fourth-Rank Mid-Grade (Requesting Subscription)

Xiao Yuan Mountain, ore vein.

Mu Mu Wandao gave up his own cave dwelling for Mu Mu Wulong to recuperate.

At this moment, Mu Mu Wulong was silently cultivating, his face flushed with an unnatural red hue.

After a long while.

His expression changed abruptly as he spat out a mouthful of essence blood.

Within the essence blood, there seemed to be a thin white needle.

"Death-Stealing Needle… Death-Stealing Scholar…"

Mu Mu Wulong's gaze turned sharp: "I originally thought this man was just an ordinary cultivator, but he truly has some skill… One day, I will…"

As the head of a Golden Core clan, the personnel and resources he could mobilize were beyond what any lone cultivator could imagine.

Though now is not the right time, having suffered such a great loss, he would surely seek revenge later!

At that very moment.

Mu Mu Wulong's expression changed as four pitch-black palms suddenly emerged beneath his cushion, lunging forward with a thunderous crash.

Zing!

Inside Mu Mu Wulong, his life treasure rang out and activated automatically to protect him, emitting a crimson protective aura.

This aura, wreathed in flame, scorched the black palms—but left little damage.

Then, a black monster with four arms appeared, wearing a mask engraved with the character "Earth."

"Third-rank mid-grade body cultivator?"

"No—it's a corpse cultivator!"

Mu Mu Wulong let out a long roar, trying to warn the Mu family disciples outside.

But his voice could not penetrate the cave at all.

As if the entire place had already been sealed by a formation!

A white-haired scholar appeared, smiling faintly at him as a torrent of immense spiritual power surged forth.

"Death-Stealing Scholar… you're a Nascent Soul? No—you're Feng Shangren!"

Mu Mu Wulong's eyes bulged with rage, but he could only transmit a single thought before his Lower Dantian was pierced by the Great Freedom Mystery Golden Sword Qi, causing him to collapse helplessly.

Fang Xing formed hand seals, and the green Nine Infants Pearl flew out, manifesting the phantom of the Nine Infants.

One head, half-dragon, half-serpent, lowered slightly, greedily devouring Mu Mu Wulong's essence blood.

Then, he began casting the Dream Soul-Searching Technique, searching Mu Mu Wulong's memories.

Moreover, after the soul-searching, Fang Xing casually pointed, and a blade of light descended, piercing straight into Mu Mu Wulong's mind sea, causing the old man to scream a inhuman shriek.

"Splitting the soul apart is excruciating… If I hadn't used my powerful Nascent Soul spiritual awareness to perform this surgery, you might have shattered outright…"

"Of course, you're not much better off now…"

"One soul-searching yielded the incantation for refining the Burnt Tail Qin—excellent, excellent…"

Watching a crimson orb rise from Mu Mu Wulong's nose and be devoured by the Nine Infants phantom, Fang Xing nodded.

Having lost so much soul essence and vast quantities of essence blood, Mu Mu Wulong, even if alive, was now merely a vegetable, barely clinging to life.

"Take this man away. Your five's top priority now is to guard him well!"

Fang Xing gave orders to the Five Chaos Demons.

Earth Demon immediately seized Mu Mu Wulong and used Earth-Submerging Technique, vanishing without a trace.

He stretched lazily, assimilated the Nine Infants Pearl into his body, and in an instant, transformed into Mu Mu Wulong's appearance.

"A bit too aged-looking… whatever."

Fang Xing touched his own face, then formed a hand seal and activated the Concealment Technique, lowering his spiritual fluctuations to Foundation Establishment early stage.

Then, he dismantled the original formation and let out a long roar.

"Master!"

Not long after, Mu Mu Wandao burst in, startled by the sight of "severely wounded" Fang Xing: "Your realm…"

"Damned Death-Stealing Scholar—I underestimated him too much… Though I forced out the Death-Stealing Needle, I've suffered massive spiritual damage—my realm has dropped…"

Fang Xing mimicked Mu Mu Wulong's tone, wearing an expression of utter despair.

"Oh no… what should we do?"

Mu Mu Wandao turned pale with shock.

"First, seal all news… I've repelled this probing wave; the Xiao Yuan Mountain ore vein should be safe. I'll return to the clan's ancestral lands to recuperate…"

Fang Xing waved his hand, looking utterly drained: "And—keep this absolutely secret."

"Yes!"

Mu Mu Wandao nearly wept as he watched Fang Xing depart.

…

Mount Mount Baihua.

"Ten Thousand Flowers, Thousand Illusions Formation?"

Fang Xing glanced at the petals swirling through the sky, then took a token from Mu Mu Wulong's storage bag and waved it gently at the formation.

Countless petals immediately parted, revealing a passage.

He strode boldly into Mount Mount Baihua, arriving at the Mu family ancestral hall.

A quick scan revealed three Golden Core cultivators and seven pseudo-Golden Core.

Essentially, every Mu clan member not in deep seclusion was here.

"This Mu ancestral hall likely has bloodline verification capabilities…"

"If the Nine Infants Pearl can't hide me, I'll kill all these cultivators…"

Fang Xing entered the hall with complete calm.

"Brother Mu Wulong!"

Mu Wanlü rushed forward, concerned: "Are you alright?"

"Cough… I was ambushed by the Death-Stealing Scholar. That Death-Stealing Needle is terrifying—I had to expel the residual poison, and now my spiritual foundation is shattered…"

Fang Xing waved his hand.

"No wonder… your soul lamp dimmed once, then dimmed again…" Mu Wanqing said, still shaken.

In truth, he suspected Mu Mu Wulong was on the verge of death.

"My spiritual foundation is shattered—I must enter seclusion immediately to brew healing pills…"

Fang Xing's expression turned grave: "From today, Mu Wanlü will temporarily assume the position of clan head…"

"Brother Mu Wulong, I'm not qualified…" Mu Wanlü waved his hands frantically.

"Sigh… I'm finished now. If I don't enter seclusion soon, I might even lose my Golden Core. Don't worry."

Fang Xing said sternly—among the Mu clan, only these few Golden Core cultivators held authority.

Mu Wanlü had the highest cultivation, decent strategy, and was aligned with "Mu Mu Wulong's" faction—he was the natural choice.

Though this man seemed somewhat unreliable, what did it matter to Fang Xing?

"That's settled."

He spoke, gave the Mu family no chance to object, and headed straight for the fourth-rank cave dwelling with the richest spiritual energy.

The ancestral hall fell into silence.

Moments later, Mu Wanqing smiled: "Brother Wanlü is truly impressive… This time, Master has taken the hit for you."

Even Mu Mu Wulong, at peak mid-Golden Core, ended up like this—his true core on the verge of collapse. No wonder his soul lamp was so dim, like a candle in the wind.

If Wanlü had gone, his fate would've been worse.

"Sigh… I was thrust into this position under duress."

Mu Wanlü said: "Our priority now is to abandon peripheral interests and defend our core assets… Also, seek aid from our marital allies…"

"Hmph. Say 'marital allies,' but only the Wang family is even slightly trustworthy—the rest would be happy to kick us while we're down."

The Golden Core elder, who had remained silent until now, spoke.

"True. I suggest we first…"

Mu Wanqing also spoke, causing Mu Wanlü to frown slightly—he knew he wasn't Mu Mu Wulong, lacking his centuries of authority.

To govern now, he could only compromise and negotiate.

…

Mount Mount Baihua Peak.

In a valley.

Unlike other areas, lush with vibrant flowers, this place was barren and scorching with heat.

Fang Xing flew in and waved his hand to open a cave dwelling.

Inside, thick spiritual energy seeped into his body: "Fourth-rank spiritual vein… excellent. Even in the Heaven Sword Sect, I never got one…"

After all, his status in the Heaven Sword Sect was only a Foundation Establishment True Disciple—he'd be lucky to get a third-rank spiritual vein.

"Mu Mu Wulong really knew how to enjoy life."

He wandered through the cave, especially pleased when he spotted a spiritual pool hot spring.

The water in the pool was saturated with spiritual energy—long-term soaking greatly benefited a cultivator's body.

Of course, besides comfort, the cave also had training chambers, beast pens, and a spiritual herb garden—all fully equipped.

What pleased Fang Xing even more was that Mu Mu Wulong was a third-rank alchemist, and this cave had its own underground fire vein connected directly to the alchemy chamber!

Inside the alchemy chamber stood a treasure-grade cauldron—though inferior to the "Ten-Thousand Transformations Cauldron," it was still very impressive.

"Hmm, once I'm a bit more familiar with it, I can start refining the Spirit Lingzhi Pill."

Fang Xing surveyed the surroundings and was extremely satisfied, preparing to settle in for a long period of secluded cultivation.

He could even avoid leaving the cave until he reached the Nascent Soul stage.

He wasn't that Mu Mu Wulong, single-mindedly devoted to his clan's prosperity.

As long as Mount Mount Baihua wasn't lost and no one disturbed him at the cave, he had no interest whatsoever in the outside world's power struggles among cultivators.

He could publicly claim that Mu Mu Wulong was mortally wounded and had entered a death-seclusion to heal!

"I'll find an opportunity soon to send the real Mu Mu Wulong here to the cave, set up an array to imprison him—that'll be truly foolproof…"

Fang Xing let out a long, satisfied sigh and went to soak in the Qi-infused hot spring.

If Mu's patriarch weren't such a stern ascetic, he'd have summoned several beautiful maidens to give him a massage and soothe his muscles…

After soaking in the hot spring, Fang Xing sat calmly in the meditation chamber, clad in a loose green robe.

The cushion in the chamber was a pale purple, woven from third-rank spiritual herbs and imbued with incantations by a master of the Banruo Sect, crafted into a quasi-third-rank artifact that promoted mental stillness and spirit focus during prolonged sitting, and even helped suppress heart demons.

Even for a Golden Core cultivator, this was somewhat extravagant.

But the Mu family, as the foremost orthodox sect and a former Nascent Soul immortal clan, naturally had the resources.

"Not only that, the Mu family has a dedicated Spirit Cuisine Hall and Spirit Detection Platform… their descendants have a higher chance of manifesting spiritual roots, and detection is far more accurate than Spirit Detection Talismans… this is true cultivation heritage."

"We're just a small, insignificant clan—we simply can't emulate this, can't emulate it…"

Fang Xing shook his head, and a classical guqin materialized in his hand.

The instrument was entirely lacquered red, its tail charred black, with seven strings—it was the spiritual treasure, the Jiao Wei Qin!

This spiritual treasure had previously resisted Fang Xing's assimilation, but now, as "Mu Mu Wulong," he touched it and felt not the slightest resistance.

"Bloodline verification passed?"

"Damn, this spiritual treasure's sentience is clearly an idiot…"

"Whatever, better to be simple-minded—still, from now on, whenever I use this treasure, I'll have to wear Mu Mu Wulong's face…"

Fang Xing's eyes flickered, his hands formed intricate seals, and a series of complex, arcane runes were driven into the interior of the Jiao Wei Qin.

These were the assimilation incantations he had extracted from Mu Mu Wulong's soul—combined with Mu family bloodline, they were the key to unlocking the Jiao Wei Qin.

Fang Xing clearly felt the resistance within the Jiao Wei Qin vanish entirely, allowing him to assimilate the spiritual treasure with relative ease.

"It's a fourth-rank mid-tier spiritual treasure?! Excellent, excellent…"