Chapter 536 The Situation Is Taking an Upturn
The circ.u.mstance was a little confusing.
The other sects and experts were all here to help. These days, they provided talents, labors, and resources. They were prepared to fight with the Devil Cult, and they helped with the construction of the floating fighting ring. Even if the starting point of all that was to please the nine forces, who did not want to get benefits from it? They had absolutely no problem with the nine forces taking a lion’s share, but how could they be forbidden to have some leftovers?
What was more, the Precious Qi of Cyan Lotus in front of them was vast like the sea. The people of the nine forces could not possibly absorb all of it. Nevertheless, the rest of the sects were banned from inhaling and refining it. This was simply an act that harmed others without benefiting themselves.
Therefore, how could the ma.s.ses harbor no resentment?
“Isn’t this going too far?”
“Are we kids raised by stepmother?”
The experts from the other sects complained despite themselves.
“Swoos.h.!.+ Swoos.h.!.+”
Sword light flashed.
Those who voiced their complaints were immediately killed and fell from the cliff like dead trunks.
It was Qu Xuening, Young Lord of the Cold River City, who launched the strikes.
His sword light was like lightning, taking lives without hesitation.
After the killing was done, he glanced at the cultivators of other sects with a scathing look and snorted, “The words of the nine sects are the law. There is no room for bargaining. If you don’t know better than to defy us, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”
He was a cruel and heartless man.
Under the death threat, people from other sects ultimately swallowed their arguing points despite their indignation. They could only back off and step out of the range of surging Precious Qi of Cyan Lotus.
Li Mu looked at Ding Yi, who was next to him. Then, the two of them also headed outside.
Of course, he would not really give up taking in the Precious Qi of Cyan Lotus. But at least he had to pretend that he had quit for the moment. Later, he would find a way to come back again disguised as a disciple of the nine major forces.
“Wait a minute,” remarked Qu Xuening abruptly, his eyes resting on Li Mu and Ding Yi.
The two looked at him in puzzlement.
“You, what’s your name?” Pointing at Li Mu with the sword in his hand, Qu Xuening demanded, “Which sect do you belong to?”
Li Mu did not know why the ruthless Young Lord of Cold River City asked that question. “Did he notice something?” But Li Mu still said perfunctorily, “I’m Duan Shuiliu and I belong to no school or sect. I’m just a scholar. I came to Mount Shu by chance under the care of Brother Ding. I have only practiced some superficial kung fu before I came here.”
“With your shallow kung fu, how did you absorb so much Precious Qi of Cyan Lotus?” Qu Xuening sized Li Mu up and said, “Just now, I noticed that your speed of absorbing the Green Lotus Qi is much faster than that of others. Are you intentionally hiding your strength? Well, spit it out, are you a spy of the Devil Cult?”
With that, everyone’s eyes were fixed on Li Mu.
Li Mu quickly weighed his options, wondering whether he should turn hostile at this time or not. But he dismissed that thought immediately. After all, the Bosses of the nine major forces were all present. Once he got himself in a fight with all of them, even if he could escape, it would make too much noise. Gu Lang and the others would not be able to settle down, and Ding Yi would be implicated as well.
However, before Li Mu spoke, Ding Yi quickly explained, “Young master, please listen to me. I was the one who brought Xiao Duan here from Fengming City. He is a scholar studying in a private school in the city and has a clean background. He is definitely not a spy of the Devil Cult.”
“Humph, the speed at which you absorbed and refined the Precious Qi of Cyan Lotus is not slow either. Who are you anyway?” Qu Xuening stared at Ding Yi with unkindness and asked, “You two came here together? Who brought you into Mount Shu?”
Ding Yi answered, “I’m Ding Yi. People in Jianghu call me G.o.d Sanlang. In Fengming City, I’m…”
Before he finished speaking—
All of a sudden, Qu Xuening threw a punch at Li Mu and Ding Yi. The unparalleled force sent both of them flying several hundred meters away. Blood trickled down from the corner of their mouths. They seemed to be seriously injured and looked rather defeated.
“Humph, two rookies.” He sneered. “Considering that you guys can’t withstand a single blow, I suppose the Devil Cult can’t have sent idiots like you to be the spies…Get out, your names aren’t worthy for me to hear it. Remember, don’t run into me again, otherwise, you will be courting death.”
“Thank you for your mercy, Young Master.” Ding Yi smiled bitterly and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. He helped Li Mu, who looked weaker, to stand up. They quickly boarded a small flying shuttle nearby and headed toward the Desktop Peak, as if they were afraid that Qu Xuening would attack again.
The flying shuttle pierced through the sea of clouds and was getting farther and farther away from the floating ring.
Soon, the Desktop Peak came into view.
“He is too much of a bully!”
“That’s right. He doesn’t treat us as humans.”
“Go, let’s go. Don’t stay here any longer. We can’t stand this kind of bully anymore.”
The other people on the flying shuttle, who had been driven out as well, were also grumbling.
Li Mu and Ding Yi got off the flying shuttle. Ding Yi escorted Li Mu to his residence and could not help but remind Li Mu again to have a good rest. After that, he went back to his room to heal his wound.
The moment Ding Yi left, Li Mu was full of vigor again.
After slightly altering his appearance and figure, he changed into a set of uniform from the disciples of the West Sea Sword Sect that he had long since procured. Then, he cast an art of illusionary movements, left the room, and flew toward the floating ring.
Li Mu flew close to the ground, avoiding the surveillance from the experts of the nine major forces. He continued to draw closer and closer to White Emperor City.
Along the way, he also sensed that there were spiritual force zones of other experts that were monitoring the region. He guessed that they were the experts of the Devil Cult from Mount Shu, so Li Mu also carefully sidestepped such zones.
The closer he got to White Emperor City, the denser the Precious Qi of Cyan Lotus became.
About 500 meters away from White Emperor City, Li Mu found a secluded place set up the Breath-concealing Deployment. He then began to practice.
Time flew by.
A large amount of Precious Qi of Cyan Lotus was refined into Li Mu’s body.
Every second, Li Mu’s natural qi cultivation was recovering rapidly.
Before he returned to Earth, he had been at the Great Sage Realm. Later on, when he was on the Evil Dragon Mountain, his natural qi had been depleted after he endured the Heavenly Tribulation, so he was left with his physical strength only. Now, he had been re-cultivating, turning his ordinary natural qi of the Natural Realm into the primitive natural qi, allowing him, a Celestial Being, to stand up to a Sage.
If he proceeded to the Great Sage Realm again, it would be no problem for him to deal with the experts in the Void-breaking Realm.
The Precious Qi of Cyan Lotus in White Emperor City erupted for three days and nights.
Li Mu also absorbed and refined the qi for three days and three nights.
Three days later.
Li Mu took a deep breath and stopped running his cultivation method.
He felt the natural qi inside him raging like a vast ocean. His primitive natural qi had returned to the peak of the Great Sage Realm, and he was only one step away from stepping into the Void-breaking Realm.
Unfortunately, at this crucial moment, the Precious Qi of Cyan Lotus stopped gus.h.i.+ng. This eruption had come to an end.
Li Mu, however, did not rush back. Instead, he continued to stay in this seclusive place to familiarize himself with this power. He wanted to experience the operation and effect of the primitive natural qi after he entered a higher realm.
After another three days, he finally left.
Li Mu did not return to the Desktop Peak immediately.
He first found the hiding place of Gu Lang and the others. After some re-exploring, he moved them to another safer place. After reminding them of all the dangers, Li Mu took off and returned to the Desktop Peak.
In fact, Li Mu had secretly searched for Luo Xuanxin, Xiao Dong, and the others a while ago, but he did not find any clue, which made him worry.
Now, the best situation he could imagine was that the Mount Shu Heaven on Earth was closed and the s.p.a.ce fog emerged again, taking all the Earth people away. This way, Li Mu could rest a.s.sured and spare no effort to deal with the various major forces on the Bitter Star.
As soon as Li Mu returned to the Desktop Peak, he met Ding Yi.
“Where have you been? I thought you…” The moment Ding Yi saw Li Mu, he breathed a sigh of relief, and cursed, “You stinky boy, for six days and six nights, you were nowhere to be seen. I thought you were killed by that man surnamed Qu. You scared the h.e.l.l out of me!”
Li Mu was moved.
Ding Yi’s concern was not feigned.
Obviously, this “famous hero in Jianghu” had really regarded him as a friend.
“I was depressed, so I went out for a walk, but got lost.” Li Mu picked an excuse at random.
Ding Yi slammed Li Mu in the chest and said, “How’s your injury? I know that your self-esteem is hurt. What now? I’ve told you that Jianghu is not as wonderful as you think it is. Don’t cling to the hopeless wish. That Decent Alliance, humph…Well, you have been absent from work for quite a few days. Today you have to go to work.”
Li Mu nodded, saying, “Jianghu is indeed…Forget it. Let’s drop this topic. Brother Ding, how is your injury?”
Ding Yi grinned and said, “I’m fine, of course. After all, I’m a famous hero in Jianghu. I’ve long cured my injury. Let’s go.”
The two of them went to get the work card and boarded the flying shuttle. They flew towards the floating fighting ring to continue the painstaking job.
Six days and six nights had pa.s.sed, and the construction of the Floating Platform fighting ring finally drew near its end.
Huge rocks floating tens of thousands of meters above the earth formed a gigantic hexagonal fighting ring with a diameter of about a kilometer. All kinds of Taoist figures were carved on the rocks. The ring was also enhanced by a load of mechanical techniques and tactical deployments. The Devil Cult from Mount Shu and the nine major forces of the Decent Alliance had individually built some parts of the ring. It was the fruit of the combination of the tactical deployments offered by the Sky-overlooking Pavilion of the Devil Cult and the Zhu Family of the Decent Alliance. Even an expert in the Void-breaking Realm was free to cast his powers on the floating fighting ring.
About half a day later, the last part of the construction project was completed.
Both the Decent Alliance and Devil Cult sent a special team to check the project.
Meanwhile, Li Mu and the others were sitting on the flying shuttle, waiting for the result.
However, when the Devil Cult’s flying shuttle landed on the fighting ring, dozens of people got off it. Li Mu took a glance at them and was instantly taken aback.
It was because he saw with disbelief that Xiao Dong, Luo Xuanxin, Lu Xun, and Qiu Shuiming were also among the acceptance test team of the Devil Cult. They had all changed into this world’s clothes and armors, and looked rather imposing. Moreover, the strength of these four had increased by an unbelievable amount, and they had all reached the Natural Realm.
In addition to that, what made Li Mu even more surprised was that the status of Xiao Dong and the other three seemed to be quite high, as the other disciples of the Devil Cult around them had treated them with extra politeness.
This was far beyond Li Mu’s expectation.
He had been worried that these four people might be in danger. But to his shock, they were having a great time and had actually made it to the high level of the Devil Cult. How did they achieve that? Li Mu was extremely curious.
Besides Xiao Dong and the other three, Li Mu also spotted two other “acquaintances”.
One was Ye Wuhen, the Virgin G.o.ddess of the Moon Dao Sect.
The other was Young Master of Guqin and Sword, the future leader of the Water and Moon Sect.
Well, no surprises there.
As the future leaders of one of the four major branches of the Devil Cult, their presence in the team to examine the floating fighting ring was thoroughly reasonable.
Li Mu deliberated for a moment, then lowered his head and concealed his aura.
Ye Wuhen and the Young Master of Guqin and Sword had both met him before. Especially Ye Wuhen, who had known him for quite some time. So, it would be awkward if they spotted and recognized him in this circ.u.mstance.
Fortunately, what Li Mu was worried about did not occur.
The examination of the entire floating fighting ring went very smoothly.
Ten duels would take place in five days, which had attracted the attention of the entire world.
When the examination was over, Li Mu secretly contacted Xiao Dong and the others through voice transmission, telling them the place and the time they should meet. Li Mu wanted to ask them in person about what had happened. Also, he needed to make more plans. No matter what the result of the battle between the devil and the decent was, he must protect these kindlings of Earth.