Chapter 554 - 502: The Name of Chu Mu, Known Throughout the City

Chapter 554: Chapter 502: The Name of Chu Mu, Known Throughout the City

The south of the city.

Chu Mu sat in a deserted inn. Through the roof, shattered by the chaos in the city, he had a clear view of the sky.

’The Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, the Yin Yang Five Elements...’

Chu Mu gazed at the sky, his expression visibly troubled.

In the Cultivation Immortal Realm, any hidden technique was an unknown. No one could ever be sure what methods lurked in the shadows.

But once revealed, even the most bizarre techniques would inevitably leave behind traces and patterns to be followed.

The Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams for Soul Lock tracking, the Five Elements Yin and Yang to solidify space. Thus, within the area covered by the Five Elements Formation, even the slightest spatial fluctuation was as conspicuous and brilliant as a firefly in the dark.

This two-pronged attack was clearly aimed at Golden Core Cultivators like him who were not from the Chen Family.

In the city center, the Nascent Soul Battle raged on.

There were still quite a few Golden Core Cultivators from various factions in the city.

If left unchecked, they could become a fatal weakness in the Chen Family’s plan.

After all, no Cultivator who managed to reach the Golden Core realm was simple!

Given the situation, what came next would be the Chen Family’s hunt for all the non-Chen-Family Golden Core Cultivators in the city.

Judging by the Soul Lock fluctuations that had repeatedly tried to find him just now, he, Chu Mu, was also one of their targets.

If he hadn’t prepared in advance by taking the Heavenly Deceit Pill to fool the heavens and cross the sea, while also clearing all traces that might expose his identity, he would have long since been exposed to the prying eyes of this Heaven and Earth Net.

What awaited him would have been an immediate hunt to kill!

Chu Mu rubbed his forehead. He couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on. His trip to Bazhou wasn’t just a case of shooting himself in the foot; he had actively courted trouble.

Leaving aside how the matter of the Soldier Puppets had escalated to this point...

When Xu Changqing had rushed out of the True Understanding Base, he went straight for the central conference hall. There was no way that could have escaped such a two-pronged surveillance system. Even the ordinary Memory Stones in the city would have recorded it with perfect clarity.

Even if the Chen Family didn’t know about his relationship with the Longevity Sect, and weren’t sure of his role in all this...

...it was obvious that in this world where the strong reign supreme, no evidence was needed.

Suspicion was a death sentence!

This was precisely why he had gone to such great lengths to clear his name after repairing the Soldier Puppet.

But now, all his efforts were for naught.

’Face soldiers with generals, and dam water with earth...’

’Forget it!’

As a myriad of thoughts swirled in his mind, Chu Mu took a deep breath, his gaze firming with resolve.

His identity as the Ninth True Inheritor of Longevity was a ticking time bomb to begin with.

Exposure was inevitable.

The only question was when.

His current predicament wasn’t a completely hopeless dead end.

Moving to the window, he could clearly see the terror unfolding in the city center.

Twelve Tier Four Soldier Puppets were already wreathed in a thick, bloody aura, like Demon Gods stepping out of Hell. Under the effects of the Twelve Blood Fiend Corpse Transformation Array, they were terrifyingly, almost undyingly, indestructible.

Outside the Grand Array, six Chen Family Nascent Soul Ancestors sat cross-legged. Each controlled two Soldier Puppets, directing their attacks while simultaneously maintaining the Twelve Blood Fiend Corpse Transformation Array and suppressing the Nascent Soul cultivators trapped within.

And within the Grand Array, amidst a sky filled with blood, the trapped Nascent Soul Great Powers were struggling to hold on.

Without the trump card he had provided, the Chen Family’s scheme would have been virtually foolproof.

But now that he had given that trump card to the Sword Dao Nascent Soul, this monumental plot had been tinged with uncertainty from the very beginning.

No one could know how this uncertainty would unfold...

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Earth-shattering roars swept through with a bloody terror. The twelve Tier Four Soldier Puppets fought like gods and demons. Within the Grand Array, under multiple layers of suppression, the Nascent Soul Great Powers were clearly overwhelmed.

Anxious gazes, barely concealed, converged on Xu Lingtian.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, if you have a trump card, use it now before it’s too late!"

"The Blood Qi is inexhaustible, and the Soldier Puppets are immortal! We must destroy these twelve puppets. Otherwise, with the Cultivators of the entire city feeding them Blood Qi, we’ll be worn down and killed sooner or later!"

"I have a Tier Four Forbidden-Breaking Talisman! I can try to break this array!"

"A Breaking Charm is useless! This array is built upon Bazhou City’s Earth Vein and Spirit Vein, fed by the Blood Qi of the entire city’s Cultivators, and anchored by those sons of bitches from the Chen Family! Unless we can shatter it in a single blow, it’s meaningless!"

"Fellow Daoist Xu, since you were able to see through the Chen Family’s plot, you must have a trump card. Use it now!"

"If we delay any longer, once the Chen Family sacrifices all the Cultivators in this city and empowers the array with the Blood Qi of hundreds of thousands, these twelve Soldier Puppets alone will be enough to suppress us!"

"Fellow Daoist Xu!"

Trapped in a predicament that was practically a Heaven and Earth Net, even the state of mind of a Nascent Soul couldn’t help but be tainted with anxiety and despair. A series of urgent Telepathy messages intertwined, all converging in Xu Lingtian’s ears.

"Everyone, rest assured. I have long since arranged a countermeasure. This array will be broken!"

Xu Lingtian’s expression was grim. As he defended against the relentless barrage of attacks, he also sent a Telepathy message to reassure the other Nascent Soul cultivators in the array.

Then, he looked at Xu Changqing, whom he was protecting by his side. "You have a way to contact that boy, Chu Mu, right?"

"I do," Xu Changqing immediately answered via Telepathy.

"When I activate the countermeasure that boy gave me and fight for control of the Soldier Puppets, the array is bound to become unstable. You must seize that opportunity to immediately contact Chu Mu. Tell him to observe the array from the outside. I need to know its detailed layout!"

"Also, tell that boy to keep watch from the outside. If he discovers anything, have him report it to me via Telepathy immediately."

At this point, Xu Lingtian paused for a moment before adding,

"Tell that boy that for this, I will owe him a favor!"

Xu Changqing nodded, clutching the Sound Transmission Order with a solemn expression.

"Fellow Daoist Li, Fellow Daoist Chen..."

Then, Xu Lingtian sent Telepathy messages one by one to the other trapped Nascent Soul cultivators, explaining his plan. After the messages were sent, the once-anxious Nascent Soul cultivators all showed visible expressions of joy.

’With a countermeasure like this, what is there to fear!’

"You should all just give up. I guarantee that as long as you all take a Dao Heart Oath and sign my clan’s Divine Soul Contract, I will ensure your safety!"

Outside the array, although they didn’t know what had happened, the Chen Family’s Nascent Soul Ancestors grew vigilant. Qing Cang Ancestor’s voice boomed into the array like a great bell, shaking the Heart Spirits of the cultivators within.

"Qing Cang, you old thief, give up! Even if my body perishes and my Dao vanishes, I’ll drag your Chen Family down to the underworld with me!"

Profound Nether Ancestor cursed aloud without any restraint.

"This is all your Chen Family is capable of—backstabbing and using ghostly tricks. You’ve completely disgraced the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World."

Qing Cang Ancestor’s expression remained placid, showing no change. With a flick of his hand, several Soldier Puppets combined their attack and struck straight down at Profound Nether Ancestor.

The combined strike, empowered by both Blood Qi and the Grand Array, instantly made Profound Nether Ancestor’s face change. He scrambled to dodge, cutting a pathetic figure.

"Fellow Daoists, now!"

And at that very moment, Xu Lingtian suddenly roared.

In that instant, outside the array, Qing Cang Ancestor—who had maintained an expression as tranquil as an old well even when being cursed out by a junior like Profound Nether—felt his murky pupils suddenly contract.

"You dare!"

Qing Cang Ancestor roared in fury. His robes billowed, his silver hair flew wildly, and the terrifying might of a Nascent Soul Great Cultivator erupted!

At the same time, the expressions of the several Chen Family Nascent Soul Ancestors outside the array changed drastically. The Cultivation they had been conserving, planning to wear down their enemies with ease, now burst forth!

Terrifying auras shot into the sky, shattering the bloody mist. At this moment, the Chen Family’s Nascent Soul Ancestors held nothing back. They attacked with all their might, pouring a tidal wave of Magical Power into the twelve Soldier Puppets, which had become as still as statues.

Meanwhile, the Nascent Soul cultivators from the various factions trapped inside the array also sat cross-legged. As they formed hand seals, equally immense streams of Magical Power flowed through the now-activated secret backdoors in the Soldier Puppets, pouring into the twelve machines to contest control with the six Chen Family Nascent Soul Ancestors!

In this moment, the dozen or so Nascent Soul Great Powers on both sides held nothing back, fighting with desperate, all-out madness!

This entire monumental scheme revolved around these twelve Soldier Puppets!

As long as the Blood Qi did not disperse, the Soldier Puppets were immortal!

If the Chen Family lost control of the Soldier Puppets, the tables would be turned instantly. They would go from being the hunters catching a turtle in a jar to being the ones caught!

If the Nascent Soul cultivators in the array failed to seize this opportunity, they would remain turtles in a jar, and... there would be no more second chances.

At this point, what was supposed to be a simple trap had devolved into a stalemate with an unknown outcome.

The Chen Family’s Nascent Soul Ancestors looked grim, their torrential fury building up with no outlet in the current stalemate.

Just then, in a lull during the struggle for the Soldier Puppets, Xu Changqing keenly seized the opportunity and sent a sound transmission from within the array to the outside.

At a time like this, when all pretenses were dropped, a transmission in front of a Nascent Soul Great Cultivator like Qing Cang was completely exposed. Let alone a transmission from a mere Golden Core Cultivator, even if Xu Lingtian himself had sent it, Qing Cang might not have been able to spare the focus to block it, but its contents would have been laid bare for him to perceive with stark clarity.

"Little thief, damn you!"

"That villain Chu Mu! He must be killed!"

"After our clan treated him so well, the ungrateful wretch! Kill him!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The moment the sound transmission appeared and its contents were clearly displayed before the Nascent Soul Ancestors, the Chen Family’s pent-up, torrential fury seemed to have finally found an outlet. Their killing intent soared to the heavens, like the wrath of the sky itself, filled with lightning, thunder, and roiling dark clouds!

"Relay my Decree! Search the entire city for that villain, Chu Mu!"

"Whoever kills this whelp will be granted entry into the Dragon Transformation Pool and become my Direct Disciple!"

"My clan and this whelp will now have a feud to the death!"

A Chen Family Nascent Soul Ancestor roared, his magnificent voice echoing throughout the city like the boom of a great bell!

At that moment, whether it was the Loose Cultivators from all over the world fleeing in panic, the cultivators from various factions living in constant terror, or the eager Cultivators of the Chen Family and the Overlord Saber Alliance sharpening their blades, all of them looked up at the roiling dark clouds that resembled the wrath of heaven...

The name... Chu Mu... was now known throughout the entire city!

...