Heaven's Secret Pavilion

Early morning.

Chen Mu opened his eyes, changed his clothes, and went out.

Another heavy snow had fallen overnight, and the entire Xuanguo Estate was a vast expanse of white. Outside the courtyard, many servants could be seen sweeping snow everywhere with brooms.

A gust of cold wind blew over, almost penetrating the cotton padded jacket, bringing waves of chill.

"Martial arts really do need to be practiced."

Chen Mu rubbed his hands, exhaling a puff of white mist.

Sorcerers could have their divine soul leave their body, capable of ascending to the heavens and descending into the earth, but their physical body was ultimately mortal flesh. Although they could use the power of their soul to resist some severe cold, it was not a long-term solution.

Martial Artists, on the other hand, only needed to reach the Ninth Rank, and their resistance to cold and heat far surpassed that of ordinary people. Even in such a cold winter, they could go out wearing only a long-sleeved shirt, their blood energy vigorous, feeling no cold at all.

Xiao Mei was like this.

Although she was only Ninth Rank, her entire being was almost comparable to a small stove.

Chen Mu was not a pretentious person. If he had a maid who could warm his bed, he naturally wouldn't leave her unused. However, no matter how warm a maid was, it was ultimately no match for improving his own physique.

Moreover, for him, any martial arts technique was not difficult. With the realm of a Sorcerer, reaching the first few ranks of the Martial Dao was as easy as eating and drinking water.

He could even cultivate simultaneously while eating, drinking, or doing anything else. He only needed to allocate a portion of his soul to control the spiritual energy and temper his body according to the technique.

Of course.

If one was not a Sorcerer, then the Martial Dao was an extremely arduous path. Not only did one need to possess aptitude, but their inner self also had to be tough and tenacious, persevering to see results.

Among the countless paths to success, the Martial Dao was actually the most difficult one!

Just some prerequisites like 'medicinal baths' were enough to block many people, and entering the ranks was even more difficult. Among the millions of martial artists in the world, less than one in ten could truly persevere and cultivate to enter the ranks.

The former Chen Mu didn't practice martial arts because he couldn't endure hardship.

In his memory, he had practiced once when he was fourteen, but he only practiced for seven days. There wasn't much change, so he couldn't persevere and gave up.

Xiao Mei, as a maid, being able to enter the ranks by secretly practicing martial arts was actually quite outstanding. If she were one of the proper young ladies of the ducal estate, she might have already reached Eighth Rank by now.

"Let's go to the Heaven's Secret Pavilion first."

Chen Mu pondered slightly.

He would prioritize Geng He's obsession and have the Heaven's Secret Pavilion gather information.

Chen Mu quickly left the house, got into a carriage waiting outside the Xuanguo Estate, and traveled all the way to a street located north of Kyoto.

This street seemed very deserted. Although it was only morning, places like the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion and Apricot Flower House were likely already full of pedestrians, but here, only one or two figures were occasionally seen.

Chen Mu got out of the carriage outside the street.

He walked into the street, going deeper and deeper, finally arriving in front of a three-story pavilion.

Although the pavilion was clean and spotless, it appeared very old, and its color was also grayish, giving off a subtle sense of discomfort at first glance.

Heaven's Secret Pavilion!

This was the plaque hanging on the pavilion.

The handwriting was crooked and extremely sloppy, looking like a three-year-old child's scribble, but Chen Mu just glanced at it and narrowed his eyes slightly.

This handwriting contained intent!

Only Martial Artists at the Grandmaster realm could comprehend intent, while Sorcerers had to reach the Fourth Rank Day Trip level to engrave their will onto external objects and maintain it for a long time without decay.

And this plaque looked like it had been around for at least two or three hundred years. After such a long time, one could still feel a trace of the writer's intent!

"Martial Saint?"

"Or a Second Rank Sorcerer?"

Chen Mu murmured in his heart.

But without thinking too much, he stepped into the Heaven's Secret Pavilion.

For others, this plaque alone might be enough to shock them and fill them with awe, but what Chen Mu had seen in the Netherworld was far, far more than what these few characters could display.

The black blood on the grave soil, dried for who knows how long, was still so terrifying that even with the system's protection, he could barely get close, let alone perceive it.

A mere plaque couldn't intimidate him.

He walked into the Heaven's Secret Pavilion.

The internal structure was very simple.

In an empty, spacious room.

There was only one table, one chair, one teapot, and one teacup.

Further inside was a huge screen, in a dark tone, depicting a Feng Shui painting, blocking everything behind it, making it impossible to see anything.

Chen Mu didn't care. With a calm demeanor, he walked directly to the table and sat down on the chair.

It was just as he sat down.

A vague voice, indistinguishable as male or female, old or young, drifted from an unknown direction.

"The three hundred and forty-six thousand two hundred and forty-first guest of the Heaven's Secret Pavilion."

"Welcome."

"There is tea in the pot."

Chen Mu gently lifted the teapot and poured a cup of tea, but only glanced at it.

Then he calmly said, "I need to know where Geng He's wife and daughter are now and how they are doing, after he committed suicide on South Screen Street in Kyoto."

His voice echoed in the empty room, but there was no echo, no response.

Everything fell into silence.

After about fifteen minutes, as the tea in the cup gradually cooled, the voice, which was indistinguishable as male or female and came from an unknown direction, spoke again.

"Geng He, a commoner from South Screen Street, died in the forty-ninth year of Yongli."

"His wife and daughter were sold to the Arriving Phoenix Pavilion. The Arriving Phoenix Pavilion was destroyed for some reason in the fifty-second year of Yongli."

"To investigate the current situation of his wife and daughter, thirty gold is required."

The Yongli era ended in its fifty-second year.

It was now the sixteenth year of Longzheng, nineteen years had passed since the forty-ninth year of Yongli, which was even longer than he had anticipated.

"Alright."

Chen Mu responded softly, placing the two gold ingots, one large and one small, on the table.

Thirty gold was a large sum of money, but the information he sought stopped nineteen years ago, and there had been changes in between. This price was not expensive, and it happened to be just enough with what Chen Mu had left.

Just as Chen Mu put down the gold ingots.

Swish!

A faint, eerie light flashed, landing on the table in front of Chen Mu and instantly pinning itself to the tabletop.

Looking closely, it was a black token.

Words were inscribed on it:

[Geng-27]

"Guest, please take this token. Return with it in ten days to retrieve the information."

The hazy voice sounded again.

Chen Mu reached out, gently picked up the black token from the table, then turned around and walked out of the Heaven's Secret Pavilion, disappearing outside.

Not long after Chen Mu left.

A person wearing a gray shirt and a black mask appeared, quietly came to the table, and took the gold ingots. Not a sound was made throughout the entire process.

Then, another person in a gray shirt appeared, wearing a white mask. They gently took away the teacup and teapot from the table, replaced them with a new teapot and teacup, and then disappeared.

Silently.

Everything returned to its original state.

In the empty room, only a table, a chair, a pot, a cup, and a screen remained.