Ye Qingcheng mistakenly believed that everything the silver-armored figure had done earlier had merely been to win her trust.
That would make it easier for him to infiltrate the Tianyuan Holy Land and strike at Chen Mu, thereby curbing the holy land's growth.
Whoosh!
Wind rose beneath her feet, and her figure flashed as she rushed over.
She swiftly took the Heavenly Abyss Sword in hand, wrapping its blade in spiritual energy.
She did not believe her strength would let her accomplish anything against the Shadow Puppet.
But Ye Qingcheng could not stand by and watch him assassinate Chen Mu.
Yet what happened next brought Ye Qingcheng to a halt.
"..." She clearly saw the Shadow Puppet kneeling before Chen Mu, offering up a dark-gold Spatial Ring with both hands. Mysterious runes flowed across it, making it look like an ancient relic.
In fact, it was an ancient treasure the Shadow Puppet had collected from the ruins of the Sand Kingdom within the secret realm.
The Spatial Ring contained even more lost treasures, pills, cultivation techniques, divine weapons... so many that they dazzled the eye!
The Shadow Puppet had swept the entire Sand Kingdom ruins clean. It was fair to say he had claimed everything for himself.
Chen Mu took the Spatial Ring offered in the Shadow Puppet's hands and scanned it with his divine sense. There were over ten thousand cultivation techniques alone!
Among them were dozens of top-tier Heaven Rank techniques.
There were techniques that could condense sand into vast armies, or summon a sandstorm tornado connecting heaven and earth, churning the winds and clouds and devastating the world...
Most of them revolved around "sand."
That made sense. After all, these techniques had been created by a kingdom of sand. It was only natural for its environment to influence them.
As for how Chen Mu knew all this?
It was simple. Since the Shadow Puppet was a puppet under his control, he could naturally use his system privileges to access all of the Shadow Puppet's memories at any time.
Truly worthy of being a Divine Rank artifact! Slaughtering ten-thousand-year demonic beasts was one thing, but he could even kill hundred-thousand-year beasts in a single strike!
He could not help thinking, With the Shadow Puppet beside me, I won't have to worry about being targeted even outside the invincible domain.
Because before anyone even has that thought, the Shadow Puppet will deal with them—no, kill them instantly!
It really was an excellent tool.
[Checking in...] [Check-in successful! Congratulations, host! You have received Divine Rank Shadow Puppets +10,000!]
Uh...
Chen Mu could not help grumbling inwardly. Even if I'm really pleased with the Shadow Puppet, did you have to give me more Shadow Puppets in the very next check-in, system?
And... ten thousand of them?!
One could instantly kill a demonic beast with a hundred thousand years of cultivation. Ten thousand...
Chen Mu felt he did not even need to rely on the Tianyuan Holy Land. If he struck out on his own, he would have a new holy land!
In the past, Chen Mu might have had some interest in doing that.
Now?
Forget it. His lineage was already invincible. Why should he work so hard?
"So this person was someone you assigned to stay beside me, Young Master!"
Ye Qingcheng's astonished voice pulled Chen Mu out of his thoughts.
He turned his gaze toward her.
In answer to her question, he nodded and said, "Yes, that's right. When I heard you were going to enter the secret realm, my left eyelid kept twitching. I had a feeling something would happen."
"So I had the Shadow Puppet accompany you. If anything happened, he could respond in time."
Looking at the Heavenly Abyss Sword in her hand, then at the Shadow Puppet sinking into Chen Mu's shadow nearby, Ye Qingcheng smiled.
As expected, the Young Master arranged everything!
"Young Master, your foresight is divine. You have my admiration!" Ye Qingcheng dropped to one knee and cupped her fist, honestly voicing her feelings.
At that moment, Chen Mu was unquestionably Ye Qingcheng's savior. Without the Shadow Puppet he had assigned to protect her, she would have died in the secret realm long ago.
Thus, Ye Qingcheng silently resolved that from this day forward, her life belonged to the Young Master.
She could live for him, and she could die for him!
"All right, what matters is that you're safe. Get up and eat. If we delay any longer, the food will get cold," Chen Mu said.
"Yes, Young Master."
"Burp!" Rubbing his stomach, Chen Mu said contentedly, "I'm full, I'm full. No, I should say I ate a little too much."
"Then would you like to take a walk to help your digestion, Young Master?" Ye Qingcheng offered upon hearing that.
"Sure." Thinking back carefully, he realized he had yet to properly explore the Tianyuan Holy Land since fully recovering his memories.
The night was lovely, and the breeze was pleasant. Going out for a walk sounded nice.
If he remembered correctly, the Tianyuan Holy Land had plenty of beautiful scenery.
With a creak, the courtyard gate opened.
He saw several disciples passing by.
Upon seeing him, they immediately cupped their fists and bowed their heads, saying with utmost respect, "Greetings, Young Master!"
"Mm," Chen Mu acknowledged.
Then he and Ye Qingcheng picked a direction at random and strolled away.
Only after watching them recede from the corners of their eyes did the disciples dare raise their heads.
They were deeply moved and full of amazement.
"It's only been a few days, and the Young Master has already broken through to Martial Warrior!"
"Of course! Isn't that only natural? Never underestimate a heaven-rank supreme spirit root, much less two heaven-rank supreme spirit roots!"
"Someone like the Young Master is one in ten thousand. You and I shouldn't indulge in fantasies. All we can do is look up to him."
"I also heard from people who returned from the secret realm that the Young Master gave Saintess Ye a Saint Rank divine weapon."
"Saint Rank?! The Young Master treats wealth like dirt, as always."
"This won't do. We have to keep cultivating hard too, and try to catch the Young Master's eye."
"Let's go! To the training rooms. We'll start with a month of secluded cultivation!"
What they did not know, however, was that although Chen Mu had advanced from Martial Novice to late-stage Martial Warrior...
Throughout the entire process, Chen Mu had not cultivated for so much as a second. It had all come from breathing.
Merely breathing increased his cultivation. Even he had to admit that this function was outrageously overpowered!
Most importantly, after a certain number of breaths, it would level up!
His breathing-based cultivation boost had now reached lv2. The cultivation gained with every breath had doubled compared to lv1!
Breakthroughs were as easy as drinking water—truly as easy as drinking water!
He was already on the verge of another breakthrough, about to enter the Martial Master Realm.
Surpassing Ye Qingcheng was only a matter of time.
Realizing this, Ye Qingcheng could not help growing frightened of Chen Mu's talent.
As a gifted disciple of the Sky Sword Sect, she had spent so many years and consumed so many pills to achieve this...
Yet the Young Master had done it in just a few short days!
Was this talent some kind of joke?
It was powerful beyond all measure!
The Tianyuan Holy Land truly might endure as long as heaven itself, standing for all eternity!
How fortunate they were to have such a young master!
In Ye Qingcheng's eyes, that was true of both herself and the Tianyuan Holy Land.
"Greetings, Young Master!"
"Good evening, Young Master!"
"Young Master!"
Everyone's calls drew Ye Qingcheng out of her thoughts.
Only then did she realize that she and Chen Mu were standing before a towering black pagoda.
"Young Master, what is this?" Ye Qingcheng asked in puzzlement.
"The Tianyuan Holy Land's Tower of Trials." If Chen Mu remembered correctly, that was what it was.
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