Chapter 81: Shadows Upon the Moon

Chen Mo sat alone inside the barracks, where a wooden basin filled with a solid block of ice was placed.

The conditions in the military camp were naturally not as good as at home, lacking any ice chest, so he could only use a wooden basin to hold ice for cooling.

Eating the cooked beef he had bought, Chen Mo felt wisps of Qi and Blood power entering the Transformation Pearl.

Having undergone four consecutive Mortal Transformations, his physical essence was powerful beyond what ordinary people could imagine; likewise, the Qi and Blood power required for the next transformation would be even greater.

If he relied solely on his current daily accumulation, he would likely have to wait three years to welcome the next transformation.

To welcome an improvement as soon as possible, he had to find a way to obtain some extra Qi and Blood power.

Glancing outside through the window, the sky was gradually darkening; after waiting a moment longer, he could find another opportunity to enter the Grey Mist and meet that Deer King, as well as the few sika deer beside it.

Chen Mo did not waste the remaining time; he sat cross-legged on the bed, silently circulating his Inner Qi according to the cultivation route of the Five Elements Essence-Nurturing Art.

Of the human body's Twelve Main Meridians, he had already opened eight; his Inner Qi surged and flowed, making these eight meridians sturdier and wider than before, capable of withstanding the reinforcement of Inner Qi during combat.

As for the remaining four, he estimated that with at most another half a year of effort, he should be able to nourish them completely.

The Tongmai Realm has no barriers to block a Martial Artist; everything is a matter of patient, grinding work.

It was just that compared to other Martial Artists, Chen Mo's progress was slightly faster.

After practicing for about half an hour, the sky outside turned completely dark; the military camp had long since entered curfew, and except for a small number of Soldiers patrolling and beating the Copper Gong, most Soldiers had returned to their rooms to rest.

Chen Mo made his preparations, quietly pushed open the door, and walked to a corner of the military camp according to the patrol route he had planned earlier.

Blood Qi surged, and his eyes turned crimson again; to prevent seeing things he shouldn't, Chen Mo did not dare to fully activate his Blood Qi Eye.

Instead, he very carefully controlled the efficiency of the Blood Qi Eye's activation, gradually increasing it from ten percent to twenty percent.

Not until he increased the power of the Blood Qi Eye to half did Chen Mo see the Blood Moon and the human-skin lanterns again.

Then it could be concluded that as long as he used the Blood Qi Eye cautiously, he would not see many things he shouldn't.

Increasing the power of the Blood Qi Eye again, it was not until he pushed the Blood Qi Eye to eighty percent that Chen Mo felt he vaguely saw some things he shouldn't have.

It seemed as if a blurry black shadow was coiled around the moon, looking like a puddle of mud, with no specific form to speak of.

It seemed to be watching him, but just as he had not fully observed it, it had not fully observed him.

Chen Mo quietly retreated a few steps back to the safe zone cleared by the sound of the Copper Gong, and looked at the moon in the sky again; the black shadow on the moon was still probing for his existence.

Withdrawing his gaze from the moon, Chen Mo looked at the dim yet vibrant land before him.

There were many Salt Mines near Zhu Niu Ji, so crops could not be grown here; even if they were barely grown, the harvest would be extremely low.

But dense weeds and Dwarf Tree could still find vitality here.

Chen Mo swept his gaze across and saw three human-skin lanterns floating in the air; sensing his gaze, they dragged their forms and slowly came toward him.

But fortunately, apart from the human-skin lanterns, it seemed no other things had appeared.

Of course, Chen Mo knew that it was just that he hadn't seen other things appear for the time being, not that those things didn't exist.

Observing carefully for a moment, Chen Mo clearly noticed something wrong; a grey human figure seemed to be floating in the void.

This grey human figure had been floating in the air, its speed far faster than the human-skin lanterns.

Chen Mo could not see its appearance clearly, but judging from its form, the other party was extremely strange; its whole body seemed to be pieced together, possessing an indescribable weirdness.

Chen Mo could not see the other party's specific appearance clearly, nor did he intend to.

From the black shadow on the moon, it could be seen that seeing too clearly might not be a good thing in this world.

Without any preparation, seeing many things one shouldn't directly, even with the Copper Gong issued by the Imperial Court for protection, could still be very dangerous.

He didn't know anything right now, so there was absolutely no need to take this risk.

It would not be too late to peek at the truth of this world when he could grasp the risks in the future.

Chen Mo had already planned to find an opportunity to have a showdown with his foster father, telling him his true strength and the fact that he had once fallen into the Grey Mist.

Since the experts of this world were already exploring the Grey Mist and the deeper secrets of this world.

Then there was no need for him to rely solely on himself to explore; he could find ways to understand the information explored by other experts in this world.

Three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang, let alone the fact that there were many experts in this world, among whom there must be existences that surpassed him.

The information they could explore with their strength was certainly clearer than his current self.

Rather than moping along, relying only on himself to slowly explore, guess, summarize, and estimate.

Like a blind man touching an elephant, seeing only a part and not the whole.

It would be better to find ways to understand the information already explored by other experts as much as possible; this would be faster and safer.

No longer observing the black shadow on the ground and the moon in the sky, Chen Mo controlled the power of his Blood Qi Eye to fifty percent and walked back into the area of the military camp that was gradually being covered by the Blood Moon.

Before long, faint grey mist began to emerge before his eyes; in just the time it takes for a few breaths, the military camp disappeared completely, and he was once again plunged into the Grey Mist.

With Inner Qi circulating to activate his Ear Consciousness, Chen Mo began to search in the Grey Mist, wanting to find the tracks of that group of sika deer.

If he could kill all those deer, the Qi and Blood power gained, even if not enough to allow him to immediately undergo the next transformation, would certainly greatly shorten the time required for his own accumulation.

"Yo... Ying..." Chen Mo's Ear Consciousness was activated, and he truly heard the deer's cry just like last time.

From this, it could be seen that the concept of areas also existed within the Grey Mist; as long as he was in the original location, he could still enter the range of the Grey Mist he had entered last time.

Chen Mo held his long spear, his footsteps very slow.

This time he did not carry a bow; arrows could not cause effective damage to those deer, and in fact, even the weapon in his hand would likely not be of much use.

Chen Mo carried the weapon only to guard against other creatures in the Grey Mist; the Copper Gong that could truly protect his own safety was tied tightly to his chest, just like last time.

Moving cautiously through the Grey Mist, after only a moment, Chen Mo saw two sika deer, one large and one small, again.

The larger one should be the doe; compared to the previous Deer King, it had no horns on its head.

Chen Mo's figure was agile; with one step he reached the front of the doe and smashed down with a punch, boundless Inner Qi surging into the doe's body, instantly turning it into a mass of meat paste.

Sure enough, just as he had expected.

Compared to slowly hitting with his fists, the vibration of Inner Qi could turn these strange deer into a puddle of mud faster.

"Yo..." The fawn turned and tried to flee, but how would Chen Mo give it a chance?

Following up with dozens of punches, he smashed the fawn into a mass of minced meat as well, but this time he did not use Inner Qi; he still had to fight the Deer King later, so it was better to save some Inner Qi.

Two plum blossom deer, one large and one small, were killed instantly by him, and the minced meat on the ground gradually transformed into two masses of Living Meat.

Chen Mo had long since held his breath, skillfully taking out a leather bag to pack the Living Meat inside, then sealing it tightly with a wrap to ensure no scent could leak out.

The jade boxes used by the Dutian Dao Sect were indeed peculiar, but he did not have any spare jade boxes on hand.

He would have to continue fighting in the time to come, and carrying those things around was not very convenient.

Having sealed and put away the two pieces of Living Meat, Chen Mo already heard the footsteps of the Deer King; it had, as expected, arrived.

(End of this chapter)