At an ordinary tea stall sat an ordinary young man, drinking a pot of ordinary tea.
Qin Mu watched the passing crowd, leisurely picked up his teacup, blew on the steam, and took a sip.
‘Tsk, I came to the Gu Tribe and haven’t figured out the golden stripes thing yet, and now I’ve picked up another epic quest with a difficulty level that’s off the charts.’
Qin Mu asked the Divine Dragon Senior, but he just brushed it off and refused to tell him the full story, saying it’s been too long and he’s forgotten a lot.
He only remembered that when Qin Mu fully completes the Dragon Transformation, he can use his own Essence Blood as a medium to reshape a body for the Divine Dragon Senior and let him “revive.”
Now, whether it’s the matter of golden stripes or the Spirit Vein issue, Qin Mu had no clue at all. He did see the Spirit Vein last night, and also the cause of the problem.
‘But how to begin? How to cure it? What method to use?’
Qin Mu knew nothing. He asked the Divine Dragon Senior, who wasn’t very sure either. As for going to ask Lu Shuanger’s master, she was busy and wouldn’t be free until afternoon.
So, bored out of his mind, Qin Mu came to drink tea. Actually, he had planned to go fishing, but then he thought about the probability of catching nothing and gave up.
Besides, the blood-red color in the Spirit Vein last night—Qin Mu’s intuition told him it was definitely related to the Demon Clan.
‘Damn it! How come there are traces of the Demon Clan everywhere? The entire Heavenly Profound Continent has been infiltrated by the Demon Clan like a sieve, comparable to MI6, so bad that it’s unbearable.’
Just as Qin Mu was bored, he suddenly saw a person—the one who had picked a fight before. What was his name… Oh right! Wan Xiangtian!
At the moment, Wan Xiangtian’s arm was still bandaged, but his pace had clearly quickened, and his expression was somewhat panicked.
‘Something’s off. There’s a nine-out-of-ten chance it’s suspicious.’
“Senior Divine Dragon, can you hide my aura?”
“Yes, boy. Are you following that person?”
“Yeah, sneaking around like that—it can’t be anything good.”
‘What if this guy is up to no good again like before, bold as can be? Then it’s time for Qin Mu to make his entrance! Although the scenario of a hero saving a beauty is cliché, it works. Besides, since I’m free, I might as well find some fun.’
Qin Mu got up, paid for the tea, his eyes turned golden, and his figure vanished from the spot in an instant. No one around noticed anything unusual.
Wan Xiangtian was practically looking back every three steps and turning around every ten steps, observing his surroundings.
Finally, he arrived in front of a low wooden house. He went up and knocked on the door a few times, paused, then knocked again, repeating this three times.
The door was opened from inside, and Wan Xiangtian immediately went in.
Qin Mu, who was following behind, naturally couldn’t go in. Although he was hiding his figure and aura now, he would definitely be discovered if he entered.
At this moment, it was time to use the method from last night.
Qin Mu asked the Divine Dragon Senior to watch over his body, and he himself learned from last night—Soul Departure!
Slightly different from last night, Qin Mu’s soul now had a faint golden light.
“What is this?”
Qin Mu remembered there was no such golden light last night.
“Hehe, boy, this is an old man’s method to protect your soul. Even a Soul Formation Realm cultivator couldn’t disperse your soul.”
The Divine Dragon couldn’t act directly, but he could protect Qin Mu. Because once the Divine Dragon truly took action himself, it would inevitably trigger Heaven and Earth Phenomena, which would alert some old undying things. So, for now, the Divine Dragon was using Qin Mu’s body as a medium to transmit power.
“Senior Divine Dragon…”
Qin Mu was suddenly moved. Indeed, although Senior Divine Dragon often didn’t mince words, he was actually quite good to him—sharp tongue but soft heart.
‘If Senior Divine Dragon were a pretty girl, then the word “tsundere” would apply here, even though tsundere has fallen out of fashion a bit.’
But recalling Senior Divine Dragon’s usually dignified voice, Qin Mu felt that the Divine Dragon Senior was definitely not a pretty girl, but rather an old grandfather, or at worst a middle-aged uncle.
With the protection of the Divine Dragon Senior’s power, Qin Mu could now safely go in.
He easily passed through the door and saw only two people inside. One was Wan Xiangtian, sitting casually on the ground.
The other was someone completely covered in a black robe. It was obvious he wasn’t a good person.
“Chu Jiujiu has come out of seclusion. That’s a bit unexpected,”
the black-robed man said in a hoarse voice.
Wan Xiangtian took out a jade slip and said, “This contains Chu Jiujiu’s recent movements. It’s all in the jade slip. Chu Jiujiu came out of seclusion early. Should we postpone the plan?”
‘Plan? So this guy is definitely up to no good! I’m glad I followed. Let me see what plan you’re talking about.’
“No, the plan remains. Kumu’s injuries are mostly healed now. The day when the Six Great Elders gather is approaching. We’ll all make our move then.”
“I hope you can beat Chu Jiujiu. This time, Ghost Elephant Mountain is betting everything.”
“Don’t worry. After it’s done, we’ll recommend Kumu to succeed as High Priest. Then, the Gu Tribe’s wealth—we split it fifty-fifty.”
“Good! After it’s done, I’ll make that white-clothed woman and that brat wish they were dead!”
“Hey, you can’t touch those people.”
“Why not! That woman cut off my arm! How can I not avenge this grievance?!”
“Those people are from the Seven Star Sect, from the Eastern Region. Their sect has an ancestor at the Great Ascension Realm. The current Sect Master is even a Tribulation Stage Great Power and the leader of the Righteous Path in the Eastern Region. They’re not to be provoked lightly.”
Hearing what the black-robed man said, Wan Xiangtian, who had been fierce just a moment ago, immediately deflated. Forget the Great Ascension Realm—even a Tribulation Stage realm was something Ghost Elephant Mountain didn’t have. He never imagined that those two had such a background!
A sect with a Great Ascension Realm ancestor—even in the entire Southern Region, there were fewer than ten.
‘Wait! People from the Seven Star Sect!’
“Say, could they be reinforcements that Chu Jiujiu summoned through Lu Shuanger?”
Wan Xiangtian suddenly said.
“Their sect is in the Eastern Region, and the Wildlands are at the southernmost tip of the Southern Region. They wouldn’t come all this way just for sightseeing, right?”
Hearing this, the black-robed man also had a sudden realization.
“Hiss, that’s very possible. As expected of the Gu Tribe’s High Priest—truly far-sighted. She can even invite forces from the Eastern Region. If that’s the case, the plan might need to be postponed. Let’s see how it goes. In the worst-case scenario, the plan might be canceled.”
The conversation between the two left Qin Mu dumbfounded.
‘What? What? How did you get us involved in this again!’
Having gathered all this intelligence, Qin Mu felt it necessary to report to Senior Chu.
Qin Mu returned his soul to his body, opened his eyes, and immediately got up to head to Senior Chu’s office.
He looked at the sun in the sky and estimated that it was almost afternoon.
Without delay, Qin Mu immediately set off.