Green Gas

"Bong~~~" A deep, thunderous clang rang out from the Bronze Bell overhead. The instant Luo Mu vanished, the bell sounded, its resonant peal making the students below feel their blood surge.

The Bronze Bell was a mid-grade magical artifact. It could not only defend its user but also trap enemies, and most importantly, it could attack with sound. It was one of the rarest treasures among mid-grade artifacts. That was why Luo Mu had used it the moment he appeared: it could hold his opponents in place for a time.

Sure enough, when the Bronze Bell's sonic attack rang out, several students from Jinxiu Academy visibly faltered. It lasted only a moment, but in a fight, a split second was often the key to victory or defeat!

Taking advantage of that brief pause, Luo Mu's swiftly moving body circled the entire battlefield. By the time the others recovered from the sonic attack, he had already completed a circuit around the fighting ground. A faint green mist now drifted across the whole area!

The green mist was so thin it was difficult to see with the naked eye. Everyone present except Luo Mu failed to notice anything amiss, making him think even less of their abilities.

Just as Luo Mu had suspected, they hadn't noticed a thing. The instant they recovered from the sonic attack, two of them, faces twisted with fury, controlled their magical artifacts and sent them crashing into the Bronze Bell overhead!

At the same time, several other artifacts hurtled toward Luo Mu with a force that tore through the air! They seemed determined not to rest until they killed him on the spot. None of the artifacts was particularly high-quality; judging by the spiritual power fluctuations they gave off, they were all low-grade.

Still, with so many low-grade artifacts coming at him all at once, full force, Luo Mu couldn't help but turn pale. If they hit him squarely, then with his strength at the sixth level of Qi Refining, he might not die, but he'd be lucky to escape without losing a layer of skin.

Luo Mu furrowed his brow. The situation was tricky, but he remained perfectly composed. He twisted his body and began moving his feet in a quick, rhythmic pattern. Faster and faster he went, until his figure blurred.

With several deafening crashes, the artifacts passed straight through Luo Mu's body and slammed into the ground, kicking up clouds of dust and gravel. Several pits, each over a zhang wide, appeared in the earth. Luo Mu's figure, meanwhile, dissolved into countless afterimages and vanished without a trace, becoming a black shadow that rushed toward the others!

"Black shadow! Watch that shadow! Use your artifacts to pin him down! Don't let him get close! Keep up the attacks and force him out!" Seeing how difficult Luo Mu was to deal with using the Phantom Movement Technique, Le Tian called out a warning to the others. Even now, Le Tian couldn't believe that he and the others had been driven to this point by a cultivator at the sixth level of Qi Refining. Their side was completely on the defensive. The only one to blame was their opponent's bizarre, frustrating movement technique.

Luo Mu's movement had already left the others trembling with fear. When they saw the black shadow coming, they panicked. Hearing Le Tian's order, they followed it without a second thought, hurling all their artifacts at Luo Mu. To their surprise, it really did force him to reveal his form.

Of everyone present, the one Luo Mu had the most reason to fear was undoubtedly Le Tian. Not only was Le Tian a whole level above him, but he had also dared to trap thirteen Plum Blossom Snakes at once. He had struggled a little, but his eyes had brimmed with confidence. Luo Mu had no choice but to stay on his guard, lest Le Tian hurt him with some hidden trump card.

Luo Mu had just turned into a black shadow. He could have caught one or two of them off guard and taken their lives, but Le Tian's warning had foiled his plan and exposed him instead.

Luo Mu's expression turned cold. He slapped his Storage Bag, and a black shield the size of his palm appeared in his hand. As he poured in spiritual power, it instantly grew to over a zhang across and guarded him from the front. The shield gleamed with a black sheen, its weighty presence making it seem impossible to break through. Now that he'd been exposed, he needed to make sure his defenses were in place.

Seeing Luo Mu bring out a defensive artifact, they could tell from its aura that it was no worse than the Bronze Bell. The students from Jinxiu Academy across from him were visibly shaken. They became even more certain that Luo Mu was a member of the Bai Family. Otherwise, how could he have so many enhanced artifacts?

Just then, two loud crashes rang out overhead. After the two artifacts that had attacked the Bronze Bell remained locked in a brief stalemate with it, their light suddenly dimmed and they were knocked backward.

The two artifacts were only low-grade. How could they possibly stand up to a mid-grade artifact like the Bronze Bell? It was only natural that they'd been knocked back.

The Bronze Bell was unscathed and entirely under Luo Mu's control. He gave a cold snort and pointed a finger at Le Tian in the distance. The bell overhead seemed to receive an order. It began spinning rapidly, then appeared above Le Tian and dropped down with a mighty roar.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. By the time Le Tian realized something was wrong, it was too late. Before he could move, the Bronze Bell had trapped him inside.

"Boom!" The Bronze Bell hit the ground, making it shudder slightly with a dull thud. Le Tian, who had just trapped the Plum Blossom Snakes, was now trapped inside Luo Mu's bell.

"Clang! Clang!" A series of sounds rang out from inside the Bronze Bell. Clearly, Le Tian was attacking it, trying to smash his way out. But Luo Mu was confident that Le Tian didn't have the strength to destroy a mid-grade artifact.

With their master trapped, the Black Iron Chain began to grow dim without spiritual power reinforcing it. It swayed incessantly, as if the Plum Blossom Snakes inside were about to break free.

But whenever the cage formed by the Black Iron Chain was on the verge of collapsing, the Plum Blossom Snakes inside would immediately ease their attacks, keeping it from falling apart.

"Not good! That kid actually trapped Senior Le Tian!" A woman's face went pale as she cried out, seeing that even the group's leader had been trapped by Luo Mu.

"This guy's movement is so strange, he's impossible to pin down. And he has plenty of powerful artifacts. We'll be at a huge disadvantage if we keep fighting him. I say we stop tangling with him!" Another man, of all people, began talking about retreat. The moment Le Tian was trapped, all the fight went out of him. Luo Mu seemed to radiate a constant, menacing aura that set his nerves on edge.

When the man said he wanted to flee, the others frowned, their expressions dark. But none spoke up to object. Apparently, he wasn't the only one thinking of running away.

The man gave a cold, silent laugh. Then, in front of everyone, he quickly pulled out a Flying Artifact.

"That's all I have to say. I'm not going to risk my life fighting him here, senior or not." The man spoke to the others. At the same time, he kept pouring spiritual power into the Flying Artifact. It grew from the size of a palm to over a zhang across. Without another word, he bent his knees and leaped onto it.

This man was the other member of the group whose cultivation level matched Luo Mu's. Both were at the sixth level of Qi Refining, which made him the strongest after Le Tian. But no one had expected that he'd already decided to retreat. The moment Le Tian was trapped, he'd made up his mind to leave.

The others could only stare as the man climbed onto the Flying Artifact, too stunned to react. The senior who usually loved to help those in trouble, draw his sword for justice, and uphold what was right had turned turtle today—and not just any turtle, but one that cared only about saving himself.

Luo Mu spat a mouthful of essence onto the shield before him. At once, its black light shone brighter and its aura rose another level. The artifacts still pressing against it were immediately blasted away by the black radiance.

The others were weaker than Luo Mu, and their artifacts were on an entirely different level from his. Even with more people on their side, they were no match for him. With the wonder of the Phantom Movement Technique and the ruthlessness of Poison Spirit Power, Luo Mu was fully confident he could keep every one of them here.

If the Phantom Movement Technique didn't consume so much spiritual power—and if Luo Mu hadn't wanted to have a little fun—there was no way these people could have stayed alive at his hands for so long.

Watching the man climb onto the Flying Artifact, Luo Mu showed no sign of worry or anger, nor did he try to stop him. Instead, a chilling smile spread across his face.

The man was decisive. Once he was standing on the Flying Artifact, he didn't spare his companions another glance. All he wanted was to get away. He frantically roused what little spiritual power remained in his dantian, preparing to pour it into the Flying Artifact and flee in one swift burst.

But the moment he tried to circulate the spiritual power in his body, he sensed something was wrong. A small amount of green gas had appeared inside his dantian. Its color was faint and hard to detect, but as soon as he circulated his spiritual power, the gas flowed with it into every meridian in his body.

Once the green gas entered his meridians, his whole body felt unbearably awful, and even breathing became difficult. As he gasped for breath, blood slowly seeped from his mouth and nose. It wasn't bright red, but purplish-black. Before he could even examine what had gone wrong, he toppled off the Flying Artifact and hit the ground, unconscious.

At the same time, the others suffered exactly the same fate. Their spiritual power was weaker than the man's, and when the same thing happened to them, they didn't even have time to feel unwell before their bodies toppled to the ground like wooden posts. Purplish-black blood poured from their noses and mouths.