Chapter 706: Drunken Immortal Qi, Wine Fighting Scripture!

“Puff puff puff—!”

Before the terrified bandits could come back to their senses, three more consecutive sounds of flesh exploding rang out. The three bandits didn’t even have time to let out a scream before their hearts and heads were pierced through, collapsing to the ground on the spot.

“Enemy attack, enemy attack!”

“It’s that brat, it must be that brat who has set his sights on us!”

“Damn it, just what sort of method is this?”

In an instant, hysterical shouts rose and fell one after another. Faced with such a bizarre method of killing people without a trace, how could this group of bandits not realize that it was that raincoat-wearing young man secretly making his move in the dark.

He had not truly left; he had been tailing their group the entire time, only that no one had been able to detect him!

“Puff puff!”

Thirty steps away, Su Mu clearly had not concealed his figure, yet none of the panic-stricken bandits searching all around could sense his presence. He merely extended a long, slender, fair index finger with well-defined joints and lightly tapped a few times in midair.

In an instant, a pure energy different from Gang Force and distinct from Vast Qi was drawn from the Qi Sea Dantian, then rapidly condensed at his fingertip and shot out like a string of arrows. The nearly transparent arrows streaked through the sky; two bandits had their bodies pierced and were lifted into the air, crashing to the ground with no breath left in them.

If you do not pull the weeds up by the roots, they will grow again with the spring breeze.

Su Mu had always been one to either not act, or, once he acted, to make sure no future trouble remained.

Just now in the inn, Su Mu had not wanted to intervene, but someone insisted on forcing him to stay. After casually slaying that bandit disguised as a woodcutter and leaving, he simply did not wish to attract too much attention.

Furthermore, that Cultivation Technique had only barely reached entry-level a few days ago. To avoid losing control and harming innocents, Su Mu chose, for the moment, to spare these bandits once, but that did not mean they did not have to die.

“I can still use Creek Spirit Finger one more time—that makes seven times in total front and back… One strike is enough to kill an Eighth Grade, and if they are caught off guard it can even ambush-kill a Seventh-Grade Martial Artist; not bad at all.”

There was a trace of freshness in Su Mu’s deep eyes. Those near the borders of Sanshan County had extraordinary eyesight; that escort caravan Leader of the Escort and the bandit chief from before had sharp vision and recognized that what he used was a Daoist means.

Indeed, this Creek Spirit Finger was neither Martial Arts nor a Confucian Skill, but a Daoist Sect method.

This matter had to be traced back twenty days. After learning that he had already left Donglai County, that little girl Li Lu chose to stay by Second Sister’s side and eventually had Second Sister Baili Hongtang pass a bundle to him on her behalf.

There were two items in that bundle, one being a letter. The content of the letter was very simple; after all, that little girl Li Lu had only started learning to read during the time she followed Su Mu.

“Master, see you at the Drunken Moon Assembly.”

There was nothing else in the letter, only this neat line of seven characters. The handwriting was tidy, clearly the result of considerable practice.

Su Mu had stayed in Donglai for a year and a half. The Drunken Moon Assembly, which should have been held last October, had been postponed to this October because of the Bai Jiao Mountain gathering and the subsequent death of the Tao Family’s second ancestor, as well as the Tao Family’s mad search for Wang Chan.

After reading the letter, Su Mu planned to keep the appointment. It just so happened that by then Senior Li Heng should be charging at the Upper Three Grades; he should also return to Donglai once. By that time, Elder Brother Baili Feng would have long since become a Martial Arts Grandmaster, and he should also go see his elder brother and second sister.

Aside from the letter, there was an ancient, simple classic. Su Mu recognized at a glance that this was the book that little girl Li Lu had brought out from the Land of Cyan Clouds and had always carried on her person like a treasure.

When Su Mu saw that little girl Li Lu have Second Sister pass this book to him, he was momentarily stunned. The thought that flashed through his mind was that perhaps the little girl also wanted him to learn winemaking, so that when master and disciple met at this year’s Drunken Moon Assembly, they could compete.

Opening the pages, the lines were filled with methods of winemaking.

But very soon, Su Mu noticed something out of the ordinary. At that moment he immediately activated his Soul Incarnation and half-epiphany aptitude; upon closer inspection, he found himself utterly absorbed.

By the time he had comprehended it once, a full three days had passed.

“On the surface, it’s a method of winemaking, but in truth it hides a Cultivation Technique!… Within it is contained a complete Daoist Sect Cultivation Technique that points straight to the Upper Three Grades. Its profundity is likely no less than Flood Dragon Shocking Skill!”

Only then did Su Mu realize that little girl Li Lu had given him a great gift. This was a complete Third Grade Daoist Sect Cultivation Technique, and if Su Mu’s guess was correct—

This Wine Fighting Scripture was likely to the Donglai Li Family what Flood Dragon Shocking Skill was to the Cyan Fish Gang—a town-clan Cultivation Technique!

As the saying goes, when you owe many debts you no longer worry. Six hundred and ninety-nine strands of Vast Qi coiled around Su Mu’s Dantian; adding one more Taoist Family Dharma Gate to his repertoire was nothing. Since it was the little girl’s heartfelt gift, he naturally would not refuse.

The Wine Fighting Scripture and Flood Dragon Shocking Skill were both grandmaster-level Cultivation Techniques pointing directly to the Upper Three Grades. They should have been cultivated in tandem with corresponding divine intent diagrams and supporting mental method outlines, yet Su Mu forcefully comprehended and entered the entry-level realm purely on the strength of his astonishing Comprehension.

Previously, however, Su Mu had not the slightest foundation in Daoist Sect methods, so he first spent three days comprehending it, then another seven days; only after ten days in total did he manage to glimpse the doorway.

The Wine Fighting Scripture takes its meaning from “inviting Heaven’s celebrant into my bosom; within drunkenness the cosmos is vast, within the gourd the sun and moon are long.” In cultivation one must circulate specific Dharma Gates and drink all manner of spiritual wines under heaven for Cultivation.

Drinking is not for the desire of the palate, but to take the body as the furnace and wine as the medium, nurturing within the Qi Sea Dantian a unique Spiritual Qi called ‘Drunken Immortal Qi’.

The more wine one drinks in daily life, the more robust and pure the Drunken Immortal Qi one cultivates. After nurturing it for a thousand days, one will be all the stronger when fighting others; it is said that if one can nurture Drunken Immortal Qi to a certain realm, one can even briefly erupt with power to battle across realms!

It was precisely this point that led Su Mu to conclude that the Wine Fighting Scripture was enough to rival Flood Dragon Shocking Skill.

At the same time, the moment Su Mu spent ten days to comprehend the Wine Fighting Scripture to entry-level, simply entering it increased his Comprehension by four points—no different from what Flood Dragon Shocking Skill had done back then.

In addition, the Wine Fighting Scripture also incidentally explained why Li Heng was so obsessed with seeking fine wines in the world and usually appeared so unrestrained, always carrying a wine gourd at his waist.

That was not decadence after failing to charge into the Upper Three Grades; rather, Li Heng had cultivated the Wine Fighting Scripture. His seemingly unrestrained ways were nothing more than his nurturing of Drunken Immortal Qi.

Thinking of this, many previous doubts were resolved. There was nothing unreasonable about the Li Family controlling more than half of the taverns and wineries in Donglai County and taking the lead in hosting the Drunken Moon Assembly.

As for the Tao, Lin, and Zhou Families fighting over taverns and wineries, it was more than likely that they also intended to curb the Li Family.

His thoughts returned.

Su Mu entered a state of Introspection. At this moment, within his Qi Sea Dantian, a crystalline and resplendent Gangjin Pill sat squarely at the center, twenty strands of various types of Gang Force swirling around it like stars around the moon.

On its left, six hundred and ninety-nine strands of Vast Qi flowed like a white stream, occupying a corner in peace.

Now, to its right, three half-transparent wisps of pale blue clear Qi had been newly added, circling slowly. These three strands of Drunken Immortal Qi seemed unable to bear the oppression of the Gangjin Pill and thus kept an even greater distance.

At present, Su Mu’s Qi Sea Dantian housed three things. The Gangjin Pill was the undisputed core of the Qi Sea; the Confucian Sect Vast Qi and Daoist Sect Drunken Immortal Qi were currently unable to contend with the Gangjin Pill at all and could only be considered its vassals.

The Creek Spirit Finger that Su Mu had just used was the entry-level Daoist Skill paired with the Wine Fighting Scripture. Though merely entry-level, its power was not small in the least. Over these past twenty-odd days Su Mu had not drunk too much wine, yet even just cultivating three and a half strands of Drunken Immortal Qi at entry-level was enough for him to ambush-kill a Seventh-Grade Martial Artist with one strike.

At this moment, Su Mu himself did not realize that this was not solely due to the inherent power of the Wine Fighting Scripture and Creek Spirit Finger. The invisible pressure emanating from the self-rotating Gangjin Pill that dominated his Qi Sea was also silently, imperceptibly tempering the Vast Qi and Drunken Immortal Qi at its side.

This was also one of the reasons why the Vast Qi Su Mu had cultivated was so pure.

To survive beside a Gangjin Pill condensed from a full twenty-eight strands of Gang Force, weak things simply had no chance.

After all, how could one allow others to sleep soundly beneath one’s own couch!

The muddled Drunken Immortal Qi could not exist within Su Mu’s Qi Sea and Dantian; only refined, pure Drunken Immortal Qi could remain long in the Qi Sea.

Besides this, there was one more point Su Mu himself was unaware of.

Martial Artists value the body, whereas the Three Religions’ Teachings value the Divine Soul and spiritual awareness—Divine Soul and spiritual awareness are the Spiritual Power of the sea of consciousness.

If the body is one of the foundations of a Martial Artist’s Martial Dao, then Spiritual Power is likewise one of the foundations of a Three Religions Cultivator, and even more important.

Su Mu’s Spiritual Power had already transformed along with each transformation of his Comprehension, and in addition he cultivated a Confucian Skill and the Myriad Phenomena Concentration Divine Technique.

With such Spiritual Power, it could not be measured by standards of a Martial Artist at all; using Spiritual Power that exceeded the Realm of his own Taoist Sect Cultivation Technique to command the Creek Spirit Finger, it was only natural that it could unleash far greater might!

And this was also why Su Mu chose, for the time being, to leave this band of brigands a “path to survival”: Su Mu wanted to use them to test the Wine Fighting Scripture he had only just reached entry-level in.

In dealing with these bandits who plundered by force and casually killed and robbed, Su Mu would show not the slightest mercy or softheartedness, nor would he have any psychological burden—ruthlessly eradicate evil to the very last!

“Where is he? Where the hell is he hiding?!”

“Spread out, scatter, quickly!”

Seeing several more bandits around them die miserably, the surviving bandits were terrified to the extreme; each one drew his Blade Soldiers as if facing a great enemy, wildly scanning all around in panic.

The next instant.

The bandits were fortunate enough to finally catch sight of the figure they’d been longing for—Su Mu.

For the three and a half strands of Drunken Immortal Qi within Su Mu’s body had been exhausted; his Daoist Skills were spent, and next it was time to discuss the logic of fists and feet with this band of bandits.

“Over there!”

“We found him, he’s over there.”

“If we keep running, the brothers will only be taken down one by one by him. No matter how strong a Daoist Cultivator’s body is, it’s still frail, it can’t take many cuts. Only if we all go up together, close in and kill him in melee, will there be a sliver of chance!”

Someone was wildly overjoyed at spotting Su Mu’s figure, while another kept the last shred of calm to analyze the situation. Hearing this, vicious light flashed in the bandits’ eyes.

“Right, all go up and butcher him!”

“Avenge the First Boss and Second Boss, flay him alive and tear out his tendons!”

Having witnessed Su Mu’s invisible killing methods and watched their brothers fall one after another, the bandits had originally been in despair; now, in this desperate situation, they suddenly saw a thread of life, even a chance to slaughter Su Mu and avenge their brothers.

Self-assured that they had found Su Mu’s fatal weakness, the bandits bared their fangs and Sharp Claws like beasts about to devour a man. They wanted to viciously tear Su Mu to pieces!

“Commendable courage…”

Su Mu watched more than twenty men rushing to kill him with gleaming Blade Soldiers in hand, yet he neither dodged nor retreated.

“Courting death, daring to act this arrogant!”

“Got him, I chopped him!”

A burly bandit swung his Long Saber down viciously, but just as the blade’s edge was about to touch Su Mu’s body, the wild roar in his mouth cut off abruptly.

“Puff!”

A detonation louder than any before suddenly boomed out. All the bandits’ pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints, even more horrified than earlier.

They saw the bandit who had first swung his blade and forced his way up to Su Mu suddenly stiffen slightly in midair, and then in the same instant his entire body was violently torn apart, then exploded—right in front of Su Mu—into a mist of blood.

Even the Blade Soldiers that were about to touch Su Mu’s skin shattered in an instant into countless shards of iron, the shards shooting out like a storm of pear-blossom needles.

“Puff, puff, puff, puff——!”

After the first thunderous sound of flesh and blood exploding, detonations came one after another, rising and falling; only after more than twenty such blasts did they finally cease.

“Y-you, what kind of monster are you!”

The bandit who had just analyzed the “only path of survival” now had a face twisted by sheer terror; he simply could not believe what he had just seen. In the space of a single breath—

Everyone except him was dead, each one exploded into blood mist, utterly without a whole corpse left!

“Run!”

Coming back to himself, the surviving bandit’s liver and gall were already shattered; he no longer had the slightest courage to strike at Su Mu. He suddenly understood that closing in on Su Mu for melee combat was simply like lighting a lamp in an outhouse, like an old longevity god hanging himself!

The bandit turned to flee.

Su Mu swept his gaze around and let out a slight sigh. This time there was no need to search the corpses.

A few breaths later, this wild stretch of countryside fell quiet again. The thirty-odd bandits had completely vanished from the human world; only the blood-soaked earth showed the brutality of the battle just now.

“Gulp——!”

Su Mu slapped the mud seal off the wine jar, raised his head, and poured a jar of yellow wine down his throat, then casually tossed the jar away. After draining the wine, he reached up and straightened the Conical Hat on his head.

The three and a half strands of Drunken Immortal Qi in his body gained nourishment from the wine, their circulation speeding up, trickling back to fullness.

“Time to buy more wine.”

The youth stepped out and headed back toward Sanshan County. From here to Qingzhou was not merely several thousand li—how could he travel without wine for company.