Steeling himself, he stepped into the woods.
This forest felt utterly bizarre, starkly different from the reports of the earlier investigation teams.
Mu Congyun cautiously refrained from venturing deeper, instead tensing his nerves to inspect the perimeter trees.
Yet despite enduring that piercing gaze while examining over a dozen trees, he found nothing unusual.
Could the problem lie elsewhere?
Frowning in contemplation of other possibilities, Mu Congyun was abruptly startled by a voice that exploded right beside his ear—
“There’s actually a live one here?”
The voice carried a note of surprise, so close it seemed to breathe down his neck.
Reacting with lightning reflexes, Mu Congyun leaped back while unsheathing his sword, warily eyeing the figure who had materialized beside him without warning.
“Not bad reflexes.”
The newcomer spoke with mocking amusement, hands clasped behind his back as he hovered mid-air.
His elaborate crimson brocade robes billowed in the wind, half-loosened hair dancing with the breeze.
Flickers of dark red strands intertwined with black became visible, complementing the ostentatious golden earrings that draped to his shoulders—an increasingly flamboyant display.
“…”
Show-offs get struck by lightning.
Mu Congyun mentally scoffed, though his gaze remained fixed on the man’s golden mask and those conspicuous ear ornaments.
The earrings were peculiar their upper halves crafted into delicate golden birdcages, with long tassels extending down to shoulder length.
But what truly captured Mu Congyun’s attention wasn’t their unique design, but the pair of birds imprisoned within those gilded cages.
Tiny crimson-feathered creatures, no larger than a human thumb, were confined within, resembling exquisite artisan-crafted collectibles.
These ornaments reminded Mu Congyun of an extraordinary tale that had spread from Fengdu to the Western Regions last year—how the “Twin-Faced King of Hell,” who had terrorized Fengdu City for nearly two centuries, was defeated by an unknown youth.
The “Twin-Faced King of Hell” were actually twin brothers, their true forms being vicious red hawks.
Inheriting a trace of Vermilion Bird bloodline, each brother’s individual strength already reached the early stages of the Boundless Heaven Realm.
When fighting together, their combined power rivaled masters at the pinnacle of that realm.
Yet these formidable twins had been effortlessly defeated.
Not only defeated, but the youth had also placed restrictions on them, forcing them back into their original forms and imprisoning them in golden cages as ear ornaments, flaunting them daily through the city streets.
Thus the Kings of Fengdu became Fengdu’s laughingstock.
The anonymous youth then replaced the “Twin-Faced King of Hell” as the new ruler of Fengdu’s Celestial Palace.
With mysterious origins and erratic, unpredictable behavior, he became known in Fengdu as the “Enigmatic Sovereign.”
When this news reached the Western Regions, people treated it merely as amusing gossip for casual conversation.
After all, Fengdu’s inhabitants belonged to the demonic path, perpetually at odds with the orthodox sects of the Western Regions.
Though surface-level peace had been maintained for years, internal strife within Fengdu was naturally welcomed with open arms.
Mu Congyun never imagined he’d encounter the legendary “Enigmatic Sovereign” within Western Regions territory.
Scanning the intricate golden mask, his eyes met the vertical golden pupils beneath-triggering internal alarm bells.
He strongly suspected this man’s involvement with both Nanhuai Town’s anomalies and the missing Xuanling Sect disciples.
His grip tightened on the sword hilt, power already gathering covertly.
“A Xuanling disciple?”
Shen Qi, noticing the jade token on his sword tassel, observed him with keen interest, his expression oddly familiar
as if recognizing an old acquaintance.
Receiving no response, Shen Qi mused aloud, “Could he be mute?”
“…..”
You’re the mute one.
Mu Congyun pressed his lips together in displeasure, feeling increasingly offended by the other’s brazen scrutiny.
With a flick of his wrist, his sword cut through the air-no flashy techniques, just pure sword energy aimed directly at the man.
Seeing it was merely an unsharpened peachwood sword, Shen Qi paid it no mind and casually intercepted it with his sleeve.
But then he let out a surprised “Huh?” as he stared at the fresh hole in his garment.
Turning to Mu Congyun with mild reproach, he said, “You pierced my ritual robe my favorite one, at that.”
Mu Congyun: “…”
Why didn’t it just put a hole through you instead?
He offered no reply, shifting from a slash to a thrust.
Surging sword intent radiated outward, yet carried not a shred of lethal intent.
But to mistake this for harmlessness would be one’s own undoing.
Shen Qi drifted back effortlessly, eyeing the tree-thick as a grown man’s waist-that had been cleanly severed by the strike.
“Tsk,” he remarked.
“A sword like Tathāgata’s, with the Dao as its heart, the heart as its blade, the blade touching divinity. I never knew Xuanling had someone born with a Sword Heart. What’s your sword’s name?”
“…..”
Was this man part parrot? So much pointless chatter.
Mu Congyun’s brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
Xuanling stood as the foremost Daoist sect, with its Celestial Mechanism Palace leading the nine palaces, mastering the arts of fate and divination.
His master, Xie Cifeng, was Xuanling’s unparalleled genius, peerless in spells, talismans, sword formations, and prognostication.
Yet Mu Congyun, his chief disciple, was mediocre in talent, unable to master talismans or divination, relying solely on a decade of unwavering dedication to the sword.
Ten years of practice, ten years of tempering.
Only now had he achieved modest success, preserving the dignity of Xuanling’s chief disciple without tarnishing Celestial Mechanism Palace’s prestige.
His master had named his sword “Compassion for Heaven,” for its bladeless edge and heart free of killing intent-a sword of mercy to protect all living beings.
Mu Congyun swept his fingers along the flat of his blade, whispering “Swift.”
Instantly, silver light erupted as the sword multiplied into ten, hovering around him, their keen points aimed squarely at Shen Qi.
With a decisive slash of his fingers, the ten swords shot forth like thunderbolts.
At the same moment, Mu Congyun dissolved into a streak of sword light, fleeing in the opposite direction.
The “Devious Sovereign’s” strength was unfathomable, his cultivation at least at the Peerless Heaven Realm.
Though Mu Congyun had reached the pinnacle of the Dustless Fate Realm, just a step away from the Peerless Heaven Realm, spiritual energy was now scarce, making cultivation arduous.
Even a minor realm’s gap was hard to bridge, let alone an entire major realm.
Better to retreat and plan anew.
His full-force strike had merely been a feint.
Shen Qi waved his sleeve, dispersing the sword light as he watched the distant figure vanish. Muttering to himself, he said, “So not mute after all. And quite the sprinter-since when did Xuanling have someone like this?”
He frowned, sifting through his sparse memories of his past life but found nothing.
In his previous life, apart from Sect Leader “Azure Ram Dao Venerable” Sikong Qingyang—who had never once appeared-Xuanling’s twelve Palace Guardians had sacrificed themselves one after another to mend the Ten Directions Barrier against the Corrosive Mist Sea, leaving no survivors.
This young man before him, though not yet of age, possessed an extraordinary Sword Heart. Given time, he should have earned a place
among Xuanling’s elite. Yet Shen Qi had never encountered him in his past life.
This man might be a variable.
Shen Qi idly toyed with the tassels of his earring.
“Well? Do we chase or not?”
The Crimson Falcon brothers: “…”
“No opinions?”
Shen Qi shook the earring vigorously, flames already flickering at his fingertips.
The red hawk staggered unsteadily, struggling to protect its feathers from the licking flames.
Frustrated beyond measure, it flapped its wings wildly, its beak opening and closing in silent curses.
Shen Qi finally remembered and answered his own question, “Ah, I forgot—your incessant noise was silenced. No matter, we have more pressing matters.”
He glanced up at the sky, then turned his gaze toward the heart of the ancient forest.
A smile of anticipation curled on his lips before he vanished in a blur, darting deep into the dense woods.
“The mutation has begun.”