Driving the Tiger to Devour the Wolf, the Yin-Yang Jade

Chen Mu immediately perked up and fixed his eyes on the words before him.

[Slaughter Register · Today's Settlement]

[Practice the blade by day to gather Killing Intent, battle in all directions by night to slay mighty foes. Today, you defeated the strong with the weak, struck back from a desperate situation, stained your longsword with blood, and radiated killing intent. Excellent.]

[Rating: Grade C-Low · Upper Tier]

[Reward: One hundred taels of patterned silver, five Bone-Strengthening Pills. Heaven-and-earth rare treasure awarded: Yin-Yang Twin-Heart Jade.]

"Heaven-and-earth rare treasure?" Chen Mu's heart jolted.

He had never heard of such a treasure and had no idea what it could do.

But Chen Mu did not claim the reward at once. His thoughts spun rapidly as he closed the settlement panel, then struggled to rise from the ground.

The Blood Essence drawn from the corpses on the ground was continuously pouring into his body.

Chen Mu's strength was recovering at a rapid pace. The comfort made him let out a soft groan, and he immediately brought up his cultivation panel to inspect it.

[Slaughter Register · Chen Mu (Common Bone)]

[Realm: Martial Master · Body-Tempering Second Layer (Bronze Skin)]

[Martial Arts: Rampaging Bull Force · Proficient (550/1000), Hundred-Slash Baleful Blade · Proficient (320/1000)]

[Blood Essence: 1450/2000 → 2000+/2000]

[Karmic Slaughter: 0 → 35]

The Blood Essence seized in this battle had directly filled up, and every martial art's proficiency had improved.

But his internal cultivation was not sufficient to cross the breakthrough threshold. His realm was not high enough, so he could not continue accumulating Blood Essence.

Fortunately, he had ample Karmic Slaughter now. It was the perfect time to push through to the third tier in one burst!

Without another word, Chen Mu gave the command in his heart. "Add points! All into Rampaging Bull Force!"

Buzz! Chen Mu's head swam, and the panel before his eyes changed once more.

[Ding! Points added successfully! Martial cultivation is being infused!]

[Realm: Martial Master (Body-Tempering Second Layer → Body Tempering Third Tier)]

[Martial Arts: Rampaging Bull Force · Proficient (550/1000) → Mastery (1200/3000)]

[Blood Essence: 2000/3000]

[Karmic Slaughter: 35 → 0]

In an instant, Chen Mu's joints crackled explosively.

His frame abruptly shot up three inches, making his already brawny body even more imposing.

The muscles throughout his body continuously tore apart and reformed. Amidst the excruciating pain, they twisted and grew together, while thick tendons like swimming serpents darted beneath his skin.

In the blink of an eye, his wounds had fully healed. With only a slight clench of his fist, veins bulged across his shoulders and arms, looking especially savage.

"This kind of power...?"

Chen Mu panted violently. As endless insights into martial arts crashed through his mind, he felt dizzy and disoriented.

His footing slipped, and he unexpectedly crushed the bluestone bricks beneath his feet.

It took him quite a while to adapt to his suddenly increased strength. Once he steadied his mind, joy surged through him beyond words.

He had broken through!

Body Tempering Third Tier!

Only two steps away from Body Tempering Fifth Layer!

And once he reached Body Tempering Fifth Layer, he could transform bronze into silver, becoming impervious to blades and swords!

Just like Yan Rong!!

At the peak of Body Tempering Fourth Tier, with Bronze Skin covering his body, he had already shown signs of Silver Transformation.

If not for the Killing Intent condensing into blade radiance tonight and unleashing a killing move comparable to true qi, Chen Mu would likely have met his end on the spot.

Thinking of Yan Rong's body, hard as gold and iron during their fierce battle, Chen Mu's heart stirred.

That man had also cultivated an external hardening art. His physique was even stronger than that of an ordinary Body-Tempering Fourth-Realm Martial Master!

Chen Mu immediately calmed himself and began clearing the battlefield, searching the corpses.

He first dragged the black-clad men into the dry well in the back courtyard and tossed them directly inside. Then he thoroughly searched Yan Rong's mangled corpse and stuffed it into a sack.

Unfortunately, Yan Rong only had a few taels of loose silver on him and had not brought the manual for that external art.

On the other hand, he found a low-grade movement technique, "Grass-Top Flight," on one of the black-clad men.

Chen Mu was about to throw Yan Rong into the well as well when his brow suddenly furrowed.

The Red Whale Gang had actually made its move. If Yan Rong vanished without returning, his disappearance would surely invite further investigation.

Although Chen Mu had just broken through and his strength had soared, he knew full well that he was still nowhere near strong enough to withstand the Red Whale Gang.

A single Body-Tempering Fourth-Realm Martial Master like Yan Rong had nearly killed him.

The Red Whale Gang even had grand Martial Masters in the Qi-Nurturing Realm.

If any one of them came, he would probably only be able to become a pair of ghostly lovebirds with A-Ning.

"Looks like this is the only way..."

Chen Mu's thoughts raced, and he came up with a scheme to drive the tiger to devour the wolf.

He first buried the traces of battle in the courtyard beneath dirt, then covered them with a fresh layer of snow.

Afterward, he hoisted the sack containing the corpse onto his shoulder and vaulted over the courtyard wall.

Chen Mu's body was light now. With all his strength, he could leap seven or eight meters in a single bound.

After several leaps, he crossed the outer walls of Rubble Ward and reached West Street, then raced through the darkness toward the east side of the city.

After nearly half an hour, Chen Mu had expended almost half his Blood Essence before finally carrying the corpse to the government office in the east of the city.

This was Zhao Dong's territory, though he usually stationed himself at the East City Drill Ground.

The office normally only housed men from the Patrol Office, along with the accountant.

Chen Mu hid the sack containing Yan Rong's corpse behind the grievance drum outside the office, then took out the Waterway Map he had concealed against his body.

"Since everyone wants it, go fight over it."

He could not keep this thing any longer. He had to throw it out and divert attention elsewhere.

After carefully memorizing the route to the Ghost Market, Chen Mu stuffed the sheepskin scroll beneath Yan Rong's corpse.

When the people at the government office arrived tomorrow morning, they would surely discover both the map and the body.

And this place faced Caiyi Street directly. With so many people coming and going, the news could not possibly be kept secret.

Once Zhao Dong obtained the Waterway Map and the Red Whale Gang lost one of its men, the two sides would surely clash again.

Having settled these calculations, Chen Mu did not dare linger for even a moment. He flew back to his own courtyard, shoveled snow over the ground, washed away the bloodstains, and concealed every trace.

By the time he finished all this, dawn was nearly breaking.

After a night of life-and-death fighting, Chen Mu had narrowly escaped death. Now, at the sight of the faint morning light, he finally had a moment to catch his breath.

Only then did Chen Mu enter the inner room to check on A-Ning.

She had taken a potent tonic last night, and one of its ingredients was calming herb.

A-Ning had thus slept deeply through the night and seemed not to have noticed the brief battle last night.

This put Chen Mu at ease. If A-Ning had awakened and rushed out last night, it would have ruined everything instead.

This was good. For now, she did not need to know about these matters of killing and bloodshed.

After confirming that A-Ning's breathing was steady, Chen Mu did not wake her and quietly withdrew.

He returned to the side room in the front courtyard, locked the doors and windows, and only then had time to inspect today's settlement rewards.

Clatter!

With a sweep of Chen Mu's large hand, one hundred taels of snow-white silver rolled onto the tabletop, piling into a small mountain.

But Chen Mu's gaze was immediately drawn to the other two items.

First came the five Bone-Strengthening Pills in a small jade bottle. Chen Mu truly loved these things.

Chen Mu estimated that after downing this small bottle, he would directly approach the grand threshold of three thousand points of Blood Essence!

But he had only just broken through, and his foundation was not yet stable. It would not do to rush ahead recklessly.

Chen Mu immediately tucked the pills close against his body, then picked up the other treasure.

"So this is a heaven-and-earth rare treasure...?"

Chen Mu was somewhat surprised.

The so-called heaven-and-earth rare treasure, the Yin-Yang Twin-Heart Jade, looked like nothing more than a pair of black-and-white jade pendants shaped like yin-yang fish.

They resembled a taiji pattern and were strung together by a red cord.

The two yin-yang fish fit together head to tail, perfectly round and seamless, seemingly forming a single piece.

But with a gentle tug, Chen Mu discovered that the two pieces of jade were actually separate and could easily be taken apart.

He turned them over in his hand and gradually figured out some of their uses.

"One piece nourishes the body, and the other conceals one's aura..."

"So that's how it is."

Chen Mu understood at once.

When he held the white fish jade pendant in his palm, streams of warm air continuously flowed into his meridians. Chen Mu could feel his Blood Essence slowly increasing.

But the increase was far too slight.

His Blood Essence was now vast as the sea. This faint trickle could only strengthen an ordinary person's physique.

"It'll be perfect for A-Ning to wear."

Chen Mu made his arrangements, then picked up the half piece of black jade, delight appearing in his eyes.

The instant it entered his hand, Chen Mu felt the Blood Essence around his body become suppressed, his imposing aura vanishing in an instant.

With this jade pendant on, he seemed like an ordinary butcher who had never practiced martial arts.

Aside from his large frame, he possessed no particular intimidating presence. He could even freely adjust the aura he allowed to leak out.

At once, a thought stirred in his mind, and he let a trace of Blood Essence seep from his body, roughly equal to when he had been at Body-Tempering First Stage.

This perfectly resolved Chen Mu's pressing problem.

He had originally worried that his cultivation had advanced too rapidly, that he would be unable to hide it before true experts, and that his secret would sooner or later be exposed.

He had not even dared rashly cultivate the superior internal art, the Black Tiger Baleful Heart Art.

Now that he had the Yin-Yang Twin-Heart Jade, he no longer had to worry about his aura leaking out and drawing attention. At last, he could let go and practice superior cultivation arts to his heart's content.