How Could Uncle Be So Impulsive?

Only then did the maids and matrons snap out of their daze.

Still horrified, the maid hurried forward to support Wang Shi. Meanwhile, the maid named Xiao Yue gritted her teeth and glared at Chen Mu as she walked toward him.

With Wang Shi's permission, she had practiced Martial Arts. Though she was only a Ninth Rank martial artist now, Chen Mu's steps were unsteady, showing that he had never practiced Martial Arts. Even if he were a man, she could still subdue him in one move.

But.

Before she could get close, Chen Mu gave her a cold glance.

That look made Xiao Yue feel as though she had plunged into an icy abyss. It was as if the cotton-padded coat covering her entire body had been stripped away, leaving her naked in the snowmelt of deep winter, with a bone-chilling cold running from her head to her feet.

What a terrifying gaze!

She had only seen such a gaze in the eyes of the highest-ranking masters of the Xuanguo Estate!

As for the other maids and matrons, they were also frightened by Chen Mu's gaze. Each drew in a sharp breath, freezing where they stood and not daring to step forward.

"What are you afraid of? He's merely a trifling..."

Wang Shi had also been cowed by Chen Mu's gaze, leaving her heart cold, but she still gritted her teeth and spoke.

Before she could finish.

Smack!

Another crisp, resounding slap landed. This time, it not only silenced her, but also made her vision go black before she fainted outright.

If the two maids had not been supporting her, she would have fallen into the snowmelt again.

All the maids and matrons stiffened, not daring even to breathe loudly.

"Get out."

Chen Mu spoke coldly.

Hearing those words, the maids and matrons felt as if they had received a royal pardon. They hastily hoisted up the unconscious Wang Shi and fled the courtyard.

Only the two maids and matrons from Ning Shi's courtyard remained, standing there in a daze.

Ning Shi had been stunned ever since Chen Mu struck out. Now, seeing him turn around, she covered her mouth with one hand, tears suddenly spilling from her eyes as she said,

"U-Uncle, how could you be so impulsive..."

The pillar supporting her heart had collapsed long ago. Yet at that moment, a light had silently appeared within her again, as though another pillar had risen to support her.

But once she had fully come to herself, endless regret surged through her heart. How had she allowed matters to become like this? If she had reacted a little faster, she might have been able to stop Chen Mu.

"All right."

Chen Mu walked over to Ning Shi and comforted her. "Sister-in-law, there's no need to worry. I'll handle everything. You've had quite a fright today, so go back and rest for now."

As he spoke,

Chen Mu reached out toward Ning Shi's head. Only when his hand touched the hair at the crown of her head did he suddenly realize what he was doing. He gave it a light pat before withdrawing his hand.

The influence of the former Chen Mu's memories on him had grown weaker and weaker lately. Some of his own modern habits were gradually returning, to the point that he had instinctively given his young sister-in-law a head pat.

Hmm.

Actually, she was not that young.

After all, in this era, fifteen or sixteen was already the age for marriage.

Her former gentleness, dignity, and sophistication had concealed the fact that Ning Shi was only eighteen. Now that she had lost that halo, her true youth was suddenly revealed again.

Even so, in his previous life, Chen Mu had rarely met anyone with a temperament like hers—someone who would rather suffer herself than implicate him. He admired that about her. Even without the original body's dying obsession, he still would not have stood by and watched Ning Shi remain in such a predicament.

"..."

The maids and matrons nearby had all seen Chen Mu's inadvertent overstep, but they hurriedly lowered their heads, looking at their noses and their noses at their hearts, pretending they had seen nothing.

Ning Shi also stiffened slightly, but soon acted as if nothing had happened. Biting the corner of her lip, she said, "Uncle, do you know that Chen Xing is now a Battalion Commander in the Kyoto Military Camp? I'm afraid he won't let today's matter go easily."

Chen Mu gave a light laugh. "I already said it's fine. Could it be that Sister-in-law doesn't believe me?"

"How could I not? It's just..."

Ning Shi gazed at Chen Mu through tear-blurred eyes. If something happened to Chen Mu because of this, she would not know how she could ever make up for her mistake.

Yet when her gaze touched his calm, reassuring eyes, the worry in her heart was somehow soothed considerably.

"All right. The weather is freezing, and your qi and blood are weak. You should return to your room and rest early."

"I'll head back too."

Chen Mu gently soothed Ning Shi's Soulmind, then nodded with a smile and turned to leave.

But when those words reached Ning Shi's ears, she was faintly stunned. A blush spread from her cheeks all the way to her ears, and for a moment, she nearly lost her footing.

Her qi and blood? Weak?

It was true that these past few days she had... But how could Chen Mu know? And how could such a thing be said aloud?!

"Forget what Uncle said."

Watching Chen Mu's back disappear beyond the courtyard, Ning Shi bit the corner of her lip and forcibly calmed herself before looking at the maids and matrons with their lowered heads and speaking slowly.

The several maids and matrons all nodded repeatedly.

Elsewhere.

Chen Mu had no idea that his words had led Ning Shi astray. His Spirit Sight could indeed see that her qi and blood were deficient, and it had nothing to do with timing. It was most likely an inborn weakness.

Ordinary nourishing soups and medicines would not be of much use. Otherwise, she would have recovered by now. He would have to look into rare medicinal soups or some special spirit fruits of heaven and earth in the future.

Thus, Chen Mu did not dwell on it.

After returning to his own courtyard, he went to the small room in the outer yard, shut the door, picked up the piece of charcoal again, and looked at the Black Obsidian Iron Ore placed beside it.

People like Chen Xing were utterly unworthy of his attention. What concerned him most now was the flying swords he was about to forge. Only after obtaining flying swords could he truly possess a trace of an immortal's bearing.

He lit the charcoal.

Chen Mu activated his Spirit Sight, then pointed with one finger.

"Gather!"

As Chen Mu's Mind-Soul Power burst forth, the spiritual energy nearby immediately began to surge, rushing toward the tiny flame burning atop the charcoal.

The small yellow flame suddenly swelled in the next instant, transforming into a deep blue blaze. Both its temperature and its form underwent a tremendous elevation.

Spirit Flame!

This was something only a spellmaster could control.

Chen Mu did not hesitate for long. He immediately raised his left hand, and the chunk of Black Obsidian Iron Ore silently floated upward, coming to rest above the deep-blue flames as it began to burn.

Black Obsidian Iron Ore was extraordinarily hard and highly fire-resistant. It normally required an excellent furnace and specially prepared charcoal before it could be melted bit by bit.

But now.

Under the scorching of that wisp of deep-blue Spirit Flame, the entire ore slowly began to glow red at a speed visible to the naked eye. In the end, it was completely covered in crimson.

As Chen Mu continued burning it, he moved the fingers of his right hand. Under the control of his Soulmind, he drove out the impurities within one by one, leaving behind only the purest Black Obsidian Iron.

The Black Obsidian Iron was burned further, becoming softer and softer until it finally transformed into a mass of crimson molten iron, floating in the void and constantly changing shape.

Seeing that it was nearly ready, Chen Mu lightly swept a finger across.

"Divide."

The mass of crimson molten iron immediately separated without a sound beneath the stroke of his finger, transforming into three equal portions.

The three portions of molten iron left the Spirit Flame. Under Chen Mu's control, they slowly began to take shape.

Throughout the process, Chen Mu continuously tempered them with his Soulmind, engraving his mark into the slowly forming flying swords. At the same time, he constantly manipulated the spiritual energy to further purify the Black Obsidian Iron, making it sharper and more resilient.

At last.

Three miniature sword blades, each only the size of a sleeve dart, appeared in midair.

They looked slender and utterly lacking in lethality, but that was merely from a martial artist's perspective. In a spellmaster's hands, these were flying swords capable of effortlessly piercing metal and cleaving jade, their cold gleam startling even ghosts and gods!

Watching the flying swords gradually cool, the crimson color slowly fading, Chen Mu thought for a moment. Then he lightly moved the fingers of his right hand through the air, and different characters appeared on the hilts of the three flying swords.

Heaven's Inquiry!

These were the characters engraved on the first flying sword.

On the second flying sword, Chen Mu wrote Abyssal Rainbow. He named the third Tai'a.

In the blink of an eye.

As the final stroke fell, the dark red sheen on the three flying swords quickly receded. Only faint wisps of ghostly light remained as they hovered before Chen Mu, radiating a biting killing intent.

"It's done."

Chen Mu nodded lightly, a trace of satisfaction showing on his face.

With a thought from him, the three flying swords immediately traced arcs through the air, like flashes of lightning. They effortlessly cut an iron shovel into fragments.

Moreover, not a single sound was made throughout the entire process. It was as if what had been shredded was not an iron tool, but a piece of rotten, crumbling wood.

"Go!"

Chen Mu's thoughts stirred.

Abyssal Rainbow and Tai'a remained motionless at his side, while Heaven's Inquiry shot through the window. In an instant, it crossed a hundred paces and silently pierced through the corner of the roof of a distant courtyard!

Although Chen Mu had long understood the power of spellmasters and knew that, within the same rank, spellmasters were invincible, it was only now, truly wielding flying swords of his own and feeling the might of that strike erupt like thunder, that he genuinely experienced a spellmaster's power.

So long as he wished,

the blade-light of Heaven's Inquiry could surge and swallow, cleaving open a hundred-pace ravine in the earth in a single thought!

This was a might that martial artists of the same rank could never hope to touch!

Chen Mu spread open his hand.

Whoosh!

A streak of light flashed across.

Heaven's Inquiry returned, joining Abyssal Rainbow and Tai'a as they hovered above Chen Mu's palm. With another thought from him, all three slipped into his sleeve and vanished.

Chen Mu rose,

then walked outside the courtyard.

At some unknown point, vast snow had begun falling from the sky once more. It seemed no different from the first snowfall several months ago, yet the one standing here watching the snow was no longer a mortal of the mundane world.