Chapter 136: The Journey

At the Nanshou City Drill Ground, a gale blew fiercely, and countless armored soldiers, armed with sharp weapons and clad in sturdy gear, were drilling battle formations there.

Sun Shouren was sitting in the study outside the Drill Ground, occasionally casting his gaze through the window toward the soldiers on the field.

"This child congratulates foster father on breaking through to the Postnatal Realm!" Chen Mo walked into the study and bowed to Sun Shouren with a smile.

His diplomatic mission this time was not originally on the way here, but only after learning the news of his foster father's breakthrough did he temporarily leave the mission to rush here and offer his congratulations.

At present, they were still in the vicinity of the Capital, so the situation was relatively safe.

Chen Mo reckoned that if he were an Alien Race or a member of the Demonic Path, they would certainly wait until he had entered the borders of North Li before making a move.

The reason was simple: once he died that way, it could directly provoke a war between the two countries.

Otherwise, even if he died within the borders of Great Gan, the Imperial Court could still "feign one thing while doing another," and continue to dispatch missions to North Li.

Therefore, the first half of this mission was very safe; at most, there would be some Demonic Path thieves testing the waters, but no Innate Expert would directly strike.

Only after entering the borders of North Li would the danger truly arrive.

"Ah! Why have you come!" Upon seeing Chen Mo, Sun Shouren's expression was one of great surprise.

He truly had not expected that Chen Mo would be able to come so soon after he had finished his closed-door cultivation.

"The mission just happened to be passing nearby, and upon learning the news of your breakthrough, this child rushed over to offer you congratulations," Chen Mo said, rising with a smile.

"You! You shouldn't have accepted this errand in the first place," Sun Shouren sighed lightly upon hearing this.

As a Fourth Rank Official of the Imperial Court, he naturally knew the true danger of this matter; there were too many people who wanted to sabotage the peace talks and provoke a war between the two countries.

"I had already weighed this; with my strength, it is not considered dangerous."

Chen Mo's face held a smile, and his expression was very confident.

Seeing this, Sun Shouren did not say anything more; he knew his foster son was steady in his actions, never greedy for merit or rash, and possessed his own opinions and ideas.

Since he had said as much, it proved that even if there were danger, it was not considered too high.

Moreover, Sun Shouren also understood that although this mission carried great risk, the rewards were equally high.

After Chen Mo went and returned, he was guaranteed at least a Right Fourth Rank official position.

He was only twenty-two years old; having reached this official rank at his age, even if he did nothing in the future, he could eventually reach the Right Second Rank just by accumulating seniority.

"For this mission, remember that preserving your life is paramount." He lowered his voice and took a Talisman from his Huai.

"This is the Earth-Folding Golden Light Talisman, something I, your foster father, kept for self-preservation; take it and use it this time."

It was evident that this Talisman was extremely rare, and Sun Shouren had always kept it on his person.

"When a Martial Artist activates this Talisman, they can travel dozens of miles in an instant; it can be used for a total of three breaths, covering a distance of a hundred miles, and its effect is far superior to the Godly Travel Talisman."

Although this Talisman was not like a Small Teleportation Talisman, which could be activated instantly to allow a Martial Artist to cross ten miles in a flash,

it could greatly increase a Martial Artist's speed and was absolutely an important trump card for survival and escape.

"Keep it well; if you use it, then so be it, but if you don't, don't forget to return it to me later." Sun Shouren slapped the Talisman into Chen Mo's hand with a look of heartache.

It was clear that this Talisman was also a quite precious item to him.

"Many thanks, foster father!" Chen Mo did not decline and bowed in salute.

"Alright, take the Talisman and hurry back to the mission; I won't keep you."

Sun Shouren waved his hand; originally, when he came out of seclusion and learned that Chen Mo had already set off on the mission, he had prepared to go himself or send someone to deliver this Talisman to Chen Mo.

Now that he had handed it to him in person, there was no need to worry about it anymore.

"This child has some rare treasures of heaven and earth here; I came this time mainly to give these to you."

Chen Mo did not leave immediately, but instead took out four bottles of Nourishing Spirit Liquid and placed them on the desk before him.

"This item is called Nourishing Spirit Liquid; it can nourish a Martial Artist's Divine Sense and help a Martial Artist open their Shenhai and condense Divine Thoughts more quickly."

He opened a porcelain bottle and introduced it carefully.

The amount of Nourishing Spirit Liquid nurtured within the Wei Xia Ghost Domain was plentiful, and even though Chen Mo had used quite a bit, he still had over ten bottles in stock.

Furthermore, the effect of this Nourishing Spirit Liquid was excellent; even though Chen Mo was already at Acquired Perfection, consuming it for cultivation could still enhance his own Divine Sense.

For a Martial Artist to return to the Innate from the Acquired, they must gather the five energies in their chest and harmonize the Yin and Yang within their body.

Only when the three treasures of essence, Qi, and spirit are complete, and the Yin and Yang Five Elements within the body are balanced, can a Martial Artist return to the Innate from the Acquired.

To reach this step, the physical body, Inner Qi, and Divine Sense all need to be strong enough.

The first two were not a problem for Chen Mo; the only thing constraining him was his Divine Sense, which could only be slowly nourished through persistent effort.

"Where did you obtain this item? It can actually nourish Divine Sense?" Sun Shouren picked up the porcelain bottle and looked at it repeatedly, his tone slightly surprised.

Treasures capable of nourishing Divine Sense were not easy to find, and each one could be said to be quite expensive.

"This matter is rather complicated; I once encountered a Ghost Spirit and obtained it from her hands.

However, this Nourishing Spirit Liquid has no harmful effects, so foster father can use it with peace of mind. Just be sure not to use too much; one drop a day is sufficient," Chen Mo explained carefully.

Refining and absorbing the Nourishing Spirit Liquid was not an easy task; while consuming more would not harm the body, it would be a waste.

"Good, but if I take these, will you have enough for yourself?" Sun Shouren asked again.

He knew his own aptitude could not compare to Chen Mo's; even with this Nourishing Spirit Liquid, he dared not say he would definitely be able to break through to the Acquired Mid Stage, let alone Acquired Perfection.

But Chen Mo was different; with his talent, Acquired Perfection was a certainty.

Such resources should be prioritized for his use, where they could exert greater value than with himself.

"Foster father, rest assured, this child still has plenty," Chen Mo replied with a smile.

"Alright, hurry along; you are the chief envoy of the mission, it is not good to be away from the mission for too long," Sun Shouren waved his hand again, urging him.

"This child takes his leave." Chen Mo bowed in salute, turned, and stepped away.

His body was like a stream of light, constantly darting through the air as he rushed back to the mission at high speed.

In fact, with Chen Mo's current cultivation and strength, if he were to travel day and night without rest, he could reach the Li Capital in at most two or three days.

However, for this mission, traveling too fast would be counterproductive, not to mention that he had to travel with many officials from the Ministry of Rites, so he could only travel by horse.

Upon returning to the mission along the way, many members of the mission were setting up camp to rest; seeing Chen Mo return, they all smiled and greeted him with salutes.

The group ate some dry rations simply, and Chen Mo arranged for the team to prepare to continue moving forward.

High above the clouds in the sky, two Innate Experts stood together, quietly watching the diplomatic mission.

"Old Chu, do you think it is worth it for Huaili to do this?" asked a man with a tall build, a dignified face, wearing a black python robe, and looking three parts similar to the current Emperor.

From his words, it was very clear that he should also be a member of the imperial family.

The person he addressed as Old Chu was wearing a bright red robe without a single speck of other color, with a head of long hair draped over his shoulders, scattered casually behind him.

"He is the Emperor of Great Gan; if he thinks it is worth it, then it is worth it," Chu Tianxiu responded to his old friend in a flat tone.

"I am afraid that if he knew everything, he would regret what he is doing now," Zhao Xuanxin sighed softly.

"Then wouldn't it be better if you didn't tell him? Zhao Xuanxin, remember, we few have taken an oath that before everyone agrees, we absolutely cannot tell this matter to any outsider.

Especially Zhao Huaili; he is the ruler of a country. Have you ever thought that if you told him that our world will be completely swallowed by the Mirage Sea in another hundred years, everything he is doing now will be in vain in a hundred years?

Then, with his status and power, what would he do? How much turmoil would it trigger? If this news were to accidentally spread, what would those Qi Refiners do?

Those Golden Core cultivators cannot live for only three hundred years like us Innate Martial Artists!"

Chu Tianxiu's tone suddenly became heavy, and he spoke sternly.

The so-called Mirage Sea submerging this world in a thousand years was merely a false message they had released.

Only a mere dozen or so Innate Martial Artists knew that in another hundred-plus years, the Mirage Sea would completely submerge this world, and everyone, no matter where they were, would be pulled into the Mirage Sea and completely assimilated with it.

Apart from them, everyone else, including many Innate Experts of the same realm as them, did not know the truth of this matter.

And they had also made a pact to guard this secret no matter what. Unless everyone agreed, they could never tell this news to anyone else, not even an Innate Expert.

"I understand, I understand," Zhao Xuanxin nodded helplessly with a bitter expression, then slowly cast his gaze toward Chen Mo.

"The envoy of this mission, Chen Mo, has great talent, cultivates both internally and externally, and has exceptional combat power; he might even be a step better than you or I were back then."

Zhao Xuanxin first praised Chen Mo, then immediately asked, or perhaps spoke to himself, "Do you think he has a chance to break through to the Heavenly Human Realm?"

Chu Tianxiu shook his head, a look of reminiscence in his eyes, "I don't know. You, I, Dao Lord Zhang of Daoxuan Mountain, and Abbot Mingxing of Kucha Temple—which one of us wasn't brilliant and talented when we were young?

But none of us succeeded. The Heavenly Human Realm, how could it be that easy!"

Zhao Xuanxin was also silent for a moment, not knowing what to say.

"It's just that if any Demonic Path thieves come later, you should still use your Zhao family's Star-Plucking Moon-Grabbing Technique to send him away first.

If he truly has a chance to break through to the Heavenly Human Realm, perhaps he can win a glimmer of survival for us."

Chu Tianxiu broke the silence and instructed his old friend.

He truly felt that Chen Mo's hope of breaking through to the Heavenly Human Realm was very slim, even negligible.

But no matter how slim the hope, it was still hope, which was better than nothing.

"Fine," Zhao Xuanxin nodded in agreement.

Since he had met Chen Mo, he had to find a way to protect him.

Even if it was the most insignificant hope, he did not want to let it be extinguished.

The diplomatic mission rushed forward at full speed, and the two Innate Experts high in the sky followed closely behind as if strolling in a courtyard.

Chen Mo could actually vaguely sense the presence of those two Innate Experts; these two experts did not deliberately hide their presence.

But even so, within the entire mission, apart from him, no one else could discover those two Innate Experts.

Some people only knew that there were Innate Experts accompanying them in the shadows, but they did not know exactly where they were.

They traveled continuously until dusk, and at night, they had to spend the night in the wilderness.

Although the number of people might not necessarily attract the Mirage Sea, as a precaution, Chen Mo still arranged for three people to beat gongs.

He added two Ever-Bright Lamps taken from the Capital City's Night Patrol Division to disperse the Mirage Sea.

The next day, they continued their journey, and after traveling for several days, the mission was attacked for the first time.

There were seventeen Demonic Path thieves who came, among whom four were Post-Heaven Martial Artists, and the rest were all in the Tongmai Realm, with varying levels of strength.

Chen Mo held a pair of hammers, not even wearing armor, and within two or three breaths, he killed the four Demonic Path Post-Heaven Martial Artists one after another.

Immediately after, he joined forces with the other martial artists of the mission to kill the remaining Tongmai Realm martial artists.

This time it was just a probe; they had not yet entered the territory of Beili, and the Demonic Path and Alien Races had not sent Innate Experts to attack.

The probe ended, and the subsequent road was walked extremely safely for several more days.

The diplomatic mission finally arrived near the border pass.

Upon arriving here, the surrounding atmosphere suddenly became murderous.

There were no commoners living here; they were all Border Army soldiers responsible for garrisoning fields.

From time to time, one could see many armored soldiers rushing toward the border pass; although there were no major conflicts between the two countries now, small frictions were still constant.

Arriving near Bian City, the General of the North, who had already received the news, came to greet them in person.

Given Chen Mo's official rank and status, under normal circumstances, it would be absolutely impossible for the General of the North to come and greet him personally.

It was only because the Emperor had personally seen the mission off on the day they left Jing that even though the General of the North was a high-ranking official of the second rank, he had to come and greet them according to the rules.

Under the arrangement of the General of the North, the mission rested in Bian City for five days before setting off again to rush toward the Beili border pass.

(End of this chapter)