Heading to White Deer Mountain

Perhaps it hides an earth-shattering secret to breaking through to the Innate realm!

However, all of that has now turned to dust.

Seeing that he was certain to die, the burly man's heart turned to ash. He decided to go all out, to completely destroy the Jade Pendant. He absolutely could not let Mu Bai obtain this crucial clue!

Thus, he used all his strength, desperately trying to crush the Jade Pendant.

However, just as he was about to succeed, he suddenly and fearfully discovered that his body was completely unable to move!

Immediately after, a pair of slender, fair hands appeared before his eyes. Like a phantom, they deftly plucked the Jade Pendant from his grasp.

And the owner of these hands was none other than Mu Bai!

Next, he heard Mu Bai speak in a calm and indifferent voice, "Brother, your mother's belongings are after all her last thoughts left for you. Treating them so roughly is truly improper."

"I think it's best if I keep them for you. It's just a small effort on my part."

The burly man clearly hadn't expected Mu Bai to say such a thing. He stared with wide eyes, his face full of astonishment as he looked at Mu Bai, completely stunned for a moment.

However, after just a moment, the burly man snapped back to reality. He understood that Mu Bai had already discovered the Jade Pendant's secret.

Immediately after, he suddenly let out a bitter laugh, the sound piercingly sharp in the quiet environment.

At the same time, his eyes turned exceptionally venomous, as if he wanted to devour Mu Bai alive.

"Mu Bai, don't get cocky! No one from your Carefree Prince's Estate will have a good end! The Langya Aristocratic Family will definitely not let you go! I'll be waiting in hell to watch each of you die!" the burly man cursed fiercely, his voice filled with endless hatred and despair.

Facing the burly man's curse, Mu Bai merely smiled slightly. His expression remained indifferent, as if he hadn't taken the other man's words to heart at all.

"You don't need to trouble yourself with that. You should focus on your journey to the afterlife," Mu Bai responded unhurriedly.

However, just as Mu Bai's words fell, the burly man suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. The blood sprayed out like an arrow, splattering onto the ground and forming a shocking pool of gore.

Immediately after, the burly man's body seemed to lose its support and fell straight down.

His eyes were wide open, his face still bearing the ferocity and unwillingness of his final moments. But at this point, he had completely stopped breathing, clearly having died from severing his own True Qi meridians.

Mu Bai pushed open the cellar's wooden door, the damp, musty smell mixing with a heavy scent of blood assaulting his senses.

His fingers left five clear marks on the rough doorframe, wood shavings falling like rain.

In the small courtyard outside the cellar, a middle-aged couple and two children under ten years old lay in a pool of blood.

The man still clutched a rusty wood-chopping knife, its blade chipped, clearly showing he had attempted to resist.

The woman shielded the two children beneath her, but still couldn't block the fatal sword strike—her back was completely pierced, the blade even stabbing through the child in her arms.

They didn't even spare the children... Mu Bai's voice was so low it was almost inaudible.

He crouched down and gently stroked the little girl's wide-open eyes.

The little girl's hand still tightly clutched a crudely sewn cloth doll, its stitches crooked. It was likely her mother's final gift before she died.

Mu Bai stood up in silence, surveying the surroundings.

This was just an ordinary farming family. The cellar was piled with potatoes and pickled vegetables for winter, and several strings of dried chilies hung in the corner.

There was still half a pot of congealed, thin porridge in the iron pot on the stove. It seemed like dinner they hadn't had time to finish.

A world where Martial Dao reigns supreme... Mu Bai muttered to himself, his gaze growing colder.

In his past life, he was an online writer, penning countless tales of chivalry and revenge. But being truly immersed in it, he understood that the world's cruelty far exceeded his imagination.

Ordinary people were like crops in a field; the strong could harvest them at will, without even needing a reason.

At least, he had avenged this family.

After all, the two assassins from the Langya Aristocratic Family had already been killed by Mu Bai.

Mu Bai shook his head, suppressing his scattered thoughts.

He took out a kraft paper envelope from his bosom, which he had found on the burly man.

The envelope had a simple map drawn in cinnabar, marking the words "White Deer Mountain" in small characters. Beside it was a line of tiny script: "My descendants of the Zhao family, if any break through to the Houtian martial artist realm, may bring this token to retrieve my inheritance."

White Deer Mountain... Mu Bai recalled the location. It was about eighty li from Xiaoyao City, reachable in half a day by fast horse.

Adding travel and exploration time, it would indeed take a day and a night.

Outside the window, the east was already showing the pale light of dawn.

Mu Bai squinted his eyes, calculating: the two assassins had just been dealt with. It would take at least two to three days for the news to reach the Langya Aristocratic Family and the Emperor of Great Yan.

This was an excellent window of opportunity. There was no better time than now.

The legacy of an Innate expert... Mu Bai's heart beat a little faster.

What he lacked most now was a method to break through to the Innate realm. This might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

His decision made, Mu Bai no longer hesitated.

He cast one last look at the tragic scene in the cellar and took out a silver ingot from his bosom, placing it on the stove—although this family could no longer use it, at least a Taoist priest could be hired to perform a ritual for the departed souls.

Leaving the farmer's house, Mu Bai did not return to the Prince's Estate but went directly to the stables outside the city.

He chose a jet-black steed, a night-traveling colt specially bred by the official stables, capable of covering three hundred li a day without breaking a sweat.

Mu Bai squeezed the horse's flanks, and the black horse shot out like an arrow from a bow. The official road in the early morning was almost deserted, with only the thunderous sound of hooves kicking up dust.

Ten miles outside the city gates, the terrain began to undulate.

In the distance, the outline of White Deer Mountain was already faintly visible.

It was a mountain peak shaped like a reclining deer, its summit perpetually shrouded in clouds and mist, with many myths and legends surrounding it locally.

As Mu Bai galloped on his horse, he recalled the legends about White Deer Mountain.

It was said that thousands of years ago, a peerless Martial Dao expert, capable of moving mountains and draining seas, had lived in seclusion here, but later disappeared without a trace.

But at this moment, the content of the legend was not important; what Mu Bai cared about was whether the inheritance of that Innate expert still existed.

I hope his inheritance hasn't been discovered... Mu Bai thought to himself.

He was in urgent need of a way to break through to the Innate realm, otherwise, facing the retaliation of the Langya Aristocratic Family, the Carefree Prince's Estate would have no chance of winning.

While deep in thought, the black horse suddenly whinnied, its front hooves rearing high.

Mu Bai reacted swiftly, flipping off the horse and landing steadily, his right hand already on his sword hilt.

This sword was also something Mu Bai had plundered from those two fellows!

On the mountain path ahead lay an ancient tree, struck by lightning and broken, blocking the way.

This in itself was not unusual, but Mu Bai's martial artist's intuition made his entire body tense—the cut on the broken tree was too neat, unlike a natural break.