All Novel Full Chapter 534 - 525: Stranger
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Above the sky, Chen Mu, with an excited expression on his face, pushed his nearly perfected Yin Wind Escape to the max. In just two breaths’ time, the Jade Belt River appeared before his eyes.
Previously, he had been trapped in the Divine Statue Cave Heaven, unable to project his Divine Thoughts across the river.
But now…
Chen Mu grinned and with a bang, a ring of air exploded around him, and whoosh, he flew straight across the Jade Belt River!
Now, not only can I fly to the opposite bank, but I can also fly even farther!
Ha ha!
But he had barely laughed a few times.
Twang!
Like a steel cable suddenly pulled taut, an invisible force enveloped his entire body. Chen Mu was like a hound that had frenziedly dashed forward only to be jerked back by a chain. He came to a sudden halt and was then swooped down towards the ground.
Plop!
Mud splashed meters high, and a large pit appeared on the ground.
Chen Mu lay sprawled out at the bottom of the hole, eyes hazy as he opened them, staring blankly up at the sky.
I freaking knew it wouldn’t be that simple!
…
Five days later, at the Jade Belt River dock, on the second floor of Xin Feng Tower, in a streetside private room.
In the middle of the dining table was a red clay stove, with a bubbling clay pot on top. Chunks of pig rabbit meat the size of baby fists tumbled in the broth, sending a rich, meaty aroma swirling around the room.
Chen Mu sat by the window, cradling a pitch-black earthenware jar the size of a cantaloupe in his hands.
He sipped cold black plum juice from the jar through a straw while gazing out of the half-open window with a furrowed brow and pained look, towards the silver-white icy surface of the distant Jade Belt River.
After trying for several days, Chen Mu found he could only travel a little more than four hundred miles from Qiluo Mountain. Beyond that, an invisible force would pull him back, preventing any further progress.
What was even more depressing was that it wasn’t the City God Dojo restricting his movement, but himself.
“Prosper due to the Heavenly Demon True Body, hinder due to the Heavenly Demon True Body,” he lamented.
“Why didn’t I realize before that I can’t stray too far from the Heavenly Demon True Body?” Chen Mu complained with a sullen face.
The orthodox Heavenly Demon Reincarnation Technique involves transforming oneself and evolving into the Heavenly Demon True Body.
But Chen Mu’s Heavenly Demon True Body had been sucked out by the River of Oblivion, becoming an independent entity.
However, this was just on the surface. At a deeper level of power, the two had always been united. Every time the True Body left, it had to be through some medium that connected its energy with his own, or else they would be forcibly pulled back together.
The Heavenly Demon True Body was firmly bound within the Divine Statue Cave Heaven, like an anchor. He himself became the line tethering a kite, able to distance himself from the Heavenly Demon True Body, but only up to a certain extent.
“First, it was a cage, now it’s a chain? Really…”
What made Chen Mu even more dejected was that the reason he could leave Qiluo Mountain by several hundred meters was thanks to the invisible threads in the City God Dojo.
Without the dojo connecting his energy to that of the Heavenly Demon True Body, he probably would not be able to move beyond Qiluo Mountain!
The County Temple of the City God of Luandu County only belonged to Luandu County. Its dojo’s power could only radiate within Lu County Town and its subordinate villages and towns. He could only move within this range and could not exceed the jurisdictional boundary of Luandu County.
After half a year of effort, aside from being able to leave the Divine Statue Cave Heaven with his body, his situation seemed to have not changed at all.
“All that trouble for nothing!”
Chen Mu furiously stuffed a large piece of scalding meat into his mouth and chewed aggressively.
After devouring half a pot of stewed meat and drinking an entire jar of black plum juice, he finally slowed his pace of eating.
“To look on the bright side, at least I don’t have to rely on Jade Dew fruits for sustenance every day,” Chen Mu said with a resigned wry smile.
“Those things may be rich in flavor, but the texture can’t compare to real food.”
“As for completely escaping this predicament, I’ll just have to slowly figure out a way.”
…
An hour later, the table was piled high with all sorts of new dishes.
Just as he reached for the third pot of stewed meat that had just been served, a clamor of noisy discussion suddenly erupted outside the window, coming from the dock.
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Chen Mu rose to his feet and fully opened the window, looking toward the Jade Belt River in the distance.
Ka ka ka…
Accompanied by a series of cracking sounds, a hundred-meter-long ship appeared on the river’s surface. A massive gold character was embroidered in the center of the black banner at the bow of the ship.
As the large ship navigated through the center of the Jade Belt River, it resembled a small island moving through the water, occupying nearly one-fifth of the river’s surface, forcefully breaking through the ice as it forged ahead.
Countless other boats of varying sizes trailed behind the massive leader, forming an unbroken line. On the deck stood armored figures, bulky and imposing with an air of stern authority.
“Is that the Pillar Country Great General Jin Wuxia’s flagship leading the way?”
“Truly imposing!”
“With this campaign, he’s exterminated Southern Shu and expanded the borders. Upon his return to the capital, he may well be crowned King!”
“Southern Shu is so vast; they’ll need to station troops there and capture those Qi Cultivating Demon Cultivators. Won’t the Imperial Court need to recruit more soldiers?”
“That’s a good thing!”
By the second-floor window, Chen Mu was taken aback as he listened.
Capture and purge Qi Cultivating Demon Cultivators?
Hmm… Is it referring to those fringe Wild Cultivators who lack Secret Techniques and a proper lineage?
Lacking proper channels and opportunities, these Wild Cultivators practice heretical methods, often involving murdering and sacrificing people for rituals that harm the Human World. It’s only natural for the secular Imperial Court to target them.
The secular world has its share of Armor Spirit Warriors. For them, banding together to kill those Wild Cultivators wouldn’t be difficult.
A realization dawned on Chen Mu.
This thought had just emerged when he saw the ice on the Jade Belt River suddenly explode. A thirty-meter-long creature, resembling a ferocious crocodile, leapt from the water.
It roared into the sky, opening its bloodied maw wide as it charged toward the crowd on the dock, like a starving dog catching sight of food.
Before the crocodile beast could emerge fully, a figure leaped from the hundred-meter ship.
Mid-air, the individual suddenly swelled, transforming in the blink of an eye into a towering armored giant over seven or eight meters tall, with four fanged tooth arms protruding outward.
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With preemptive speed, the giant landed first, blocking the crocodile demon’s path. Then with its four fists, it fiercely pounded forward.
Bang!
Teeth flew, the face deformed, and the two-story-tall monster was smashed head over heels, tumbling back into the river’s depths.
The relentless giant jumped into the river, its four arms whirling like bee wings.
Bang bang bang…
A succession of drum-like thumps erupted, and in just a few breaths, the shape and flesh of the crocodile beast were thrashed, its claws covering its head, too frightened to move as the four-armed giant continued to hammer down.
After administering several more powerful punches, the giant leaped up, shrunk in size, and spiraled back into the center of the large ship.
A clattering of chains followed, and only then did the onlookers realize that the crocodile monster’s body was bound by several iron chains as thick as a man. It was the creature’s pulling that allowed the large ship to advance rapidly through the ice.
“General Jin is mighty!” the people on the dock shouted in admiration.
Chen Mu stared stiffly at the giant crocodile lazily moving forward on the Jade Belt River.
Was that man just now the Great General of the Da Qian Pillar Country, Jin Wuxia?
Considering the four-armed giant’s strength just now, he was far from any ordinary secular warrior.
With great power, robust defense, and the ability to transform, aside from the absence of mana, he was almost on par with the True Body of a Heavenly Demon crafted by the Heavenly Demon Heretical Method—a level that could compete with Condensing Aperture Qi Cultivators!
And this General Jin was but one of the eight Pillar Country Great Generals of the Da Qian Imperial Court.
As for the crocodile beast, although it wasn’t a demon, it was not far off. Using an Exotic Beast nearly on par with a demon to pull his ship… This…
“Something’s not right about this Da Qian!”
The Yunzhou I knew so well suddenly felt like a stranger.
“Could they really be capturing Qi Cultivators?”
“Why do I get the feeling that the outside world is even less safe than inside the Divine Statue Cave Heaven?!”
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