Chu Mo released a burst of true qi, snapping the ropes binding Ke Wan.
He had already checked her. Her cultivation had been sealed by some unknown method, leaving her unable to mobilize even a trace of true qi. Aside from her tough physique, she was no different from a mortal.
"Ke Wan?" Chu Mo spoke, his voice especially clear within the cave abode.
The woman slowly raised her head. Hers was a lovely face, her delicate features as exquisite as a painting, her eyes like stars.
Cultivating the "Black Serpent Molting True Heart Scripture" seemed to alter one's bearing. Even in captivity, she still exuded a faintly seductive air.
"Greetings, Senior Brother." Her voice was pleasant, yet devoid of inflection.
[Level 7 · Grunt of the Duo'e Sect (yellow name)]
Chu Mo gave the woman a strange look, his thoughts racing.
He paced forward and stopped before Ke Wan, looking down as he scrutinized her. "You seem remarkably resigned to this."
Ke Wan lowered her eyes slightly, her long lashes casting small shadows beneath them. "Whether I accept it or not, the outcome remains the same.
Those who devour others will surely be devoured. Having entered this sect, I should have known this day would come. You need not feel troubled, Senior Brother. Do as you will."
"Uh..." Chu Mo was slightly taken aback. He had not expected her to be so accepting. Since that was the case, it was time for her to rest.
Hand in hand, arms entwined, the two retired behind the gauze bed curtains. Nothing more need be said of that night.
While Chu Mo seized every moment to improve his cultivation, elsewhere in the sect, inside another cave abode...
An old man was leafing through a dossier before him. It was densely packed with names, all belonging to people who had recently been in contact with Jiang Yunya.
Had any other disciples been present, they would surely have recognized him as that cold, unapproachable Old Man Li from the Scripture Repository.
After several days of investigation, the Enforcement Hall had failed to find any clear leads and could only place the case on record for the time being.
But as an peripheral member of the Upper Mound Commerce Association and a close personal friend of Jiang Yunya, Old Man Li naturally paid particular attention to the matter.
"Junior Brother Jiang... to think he died just like that." Old Man Li's eyes darkened.
To others, this might have been trouble, but to him, it could well be an opportunity.
Others might not have known, but he knew how highly High Person Zhou Huan valued Jiang Yunya. Zhou Huan had even personally intervened to resolve trouble for him before.
If he could find the true culprit, how could he go unrewarded when High Person Zhou Huan returned from the other realm? Given how much High Person Zhou valued Jiang Yunya, even a Foundation Establishment Pill was not out of the question.
Old Man Li's thoughts twisted and turned. In the past, he had exhausted every scheme to curry favor with Jiang Yunya, even helping him trap new disciples with loans. Had it not all been for the Foundation Establishment High Person backing him?
He was already over a hundred and ninety years old, and had only barely broken through to the tenth layer of Qi Refining a few months earlier. His talent could hardly have been worse.
Most people with aptitude like his would have ended up inside a soul banner long ago. He had survived until now through sheer luck.
Yet Qi Refining cultivators had only two hundred years of life. If he still could not reach Foundation Establishment...
Old Man Li sighed. He did not dream of that elusive "Dao Register." A single Foundation Establishment Pill would satisfy him completely!
Several days later.
The faint light of dawn seeped through the cracks in the cave abode's stone walls.
Chu Mo sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, his eyes half closed as he carefully sensed the true qi surging and circulating within him.
The seventh layer of Qi Refining!
The true qi within him was like streams converging into a river. Not only had its volume swelled like a rising tide, it flowed without end when circulated.
"Black serpent true qi... it really is formidable."
Chu Mo opened his eyes, his gaze clear and bright, his spirits full. He rose to his feet and stretched, his bones making faint cracking sounds.
"I still can't let my guard down."
His current strength was nothing before a Foundation Establishment cultivator, while the unknown Profound Sun Realm held fortunes and dangers he could not predict. He had to prepare for every possibility.
The Profound Scenery Refining Truth Banner needed further refinement to strengthen its reserves and power. Its banner spirits also needed replenishing, or he would struggle to unleash the soul banner's true might.
Besides, the "Life-Ending Curse" could not remain his only means of burning his life away in battle. He needed a few more.
For no other reason than that he liked the feeling of dying and coming back to life.
With his mind made up, he took out the soul banner he had obtained from Jiang Yunya and dismantled it, preparing to use it to refine his own.
Over the days that followed, Chu Mo's life became exceedingly regular. Apart from diligently cultivating, he devoted himself to drawing talismans.
Thanks to Liu Xian's talisman arts and his increased cultivation, he could now draw first-tier, high-grade [Sunflame Evil-Breaking Talismans] and [Flame Arrow Volley Talismans].
He sold his middle- and low-grade spirit talismans in batches to accumulate Spell Coins, while keeping every high-grade talisman to bolster his own reserves.
One day, after selling out a newly drawn batch of talismans, Chu Mo headed straight to North Cliff Market and found Luo Shan's stall with practiced ease.
"Oh, Junior Brother Chu! You're looking splendid today. Your cultivation must have advanced again!" The moment Luo Shan saw him, his face filled with a warm smile. His eyes were sharp indeed.
"You have a keen eye, Senior Brother Luo." Chu Mo smiled faintly and got straight to the point. "I came today to find a suitable spell."
"Just say the word, Junior Brother. As long as you have enough Spell Coins, I have everything you could want!"
"I need a spell to use with a spirit bow," Chu Mo said.
After reaching late-stage Qi Refining, simply drawing the bow and nocking an arrow was no longer enough to fully unleash the Blazing Fire Bow's power. He needed a specialized archery technique to complement it.
Hearing this, Luo Shan immediately rummaged through his stall. A moment later, he produced a white jade slip. "How about this one, Junior Brother?
'Meteor Chasing the Moon,' a first-tier, high-grade spell. Once you have the basics down, you can fire three arrows in an instant. With mastery, even nine arrows in an instant is no difficult feat. A fair price, too-only seventy Spell Coins."
[Skill [Meteor Chasing the Moon]. Learn?]
Chu Mo accepted the jade slip, read the description, and nodded. "Not bad. I'll take it. Also..." He paused and lowered his voice.
"Do you have any other techniques like the 'Life-Ending Curse'...?"
A question mark popped up in Luo Shan's mind. This junior brother's tastes were rather... peculiar. Was one "Life-Ending Curse" not enough to kill him?
Still, adhering to the supreme principle that "the customer is the exalted cultivator," he suppressed his doubts and swiftly took out another jade slip.
"You certainly know quality when you see it, Junior Brother! I happen to have another technique here, the 'Essence-Remnant Soul-Burning Art.'
This art burns both the caster's soul essence and his vital energy, more than tripling his true qi while greatly increasing both speed and strength.
The effect lasts for half an incense stick. After that, the caster dies and his cultivation vanishes with him. But the price... is a little steep."
[Skill [Essence-Remnant Blood-Burning Art]. Learn?]
Both spells had good effects, so Chu Mo confirmed that he would learn them without much hesitation. Then he took out seventy Spell Coins, his expression turning slightly embarrassed.
"The 'Essence-Remnant Blood-Burning Art'... on second thought, it isn't quite suitable for me. I'll just take 'Meteor Chasing the Moon' this time."
Luo Shan did not react much. He had thought as much-who in the Duo'e Sect would be bored enough to collect soul-burning spells? He briskly accepted the Spell Coins, removed the restriction on the first jade slip, and handed it over.
"Do you need anything else, Junior Brother? I have..." Still eager, he wanted to keep pitching his wares.
"That will be all for today. Thank you, Senior Brother." Chu Mo cupped his hands, cutting him off, then turned and melted into the crowd.
Leaving the bustling market, Chu Mo mounted his Spirit Cloud and flew leisurely toward his cave abode.
"Senior Brother Luo is a good man."
He could not help feeling moved. If the other stallholders were as sincere as Senior Brother Luo, he would not have to keep targeting the same man to fleece him over and over.
After roughly an incense stick's worth of flight, his cave abode was already close at hand.
Yet just as he was about to lower his cloud, a faint sense of being watched suddenly surfaced in his mind.