Over the next few days, Mu Chen began studying Spirit Arrays under the instructor Mu Feng had invited.
Judging by his progress, Mu Chen had perfectly inherited his mother's talent for Spirit Arrays.
During this time, Mu Feng and Zhou Ye also finalized their plans against the Liu Domain, dispatching skilled men to keep it under surveillance and recalling the Mu Domain's city lords.
At the slightest rustle of wind or grass in the Liu Domain, the Mu Domain would take corresponding action to prevent it from profiting.
A few days later, autumn whispered through every tree, and the mountains wore the colors of cold. The season had reached the cusp of late autumn and early winter.
Though winter in the Northern Spirit Domain brought no spectacle of a thousand miles sealed in ice and snow drifting across ten thousand miles, the cold wind had stripped every autumn leaf from the trees and scattered them across the courtyard.
Su Qing sat meditating on a wooden stump beneath a tree, his sword cradled in his arms, an unparalleled sharpness in his features.
After an unknown stretch of time, a wisp of sword energy sliced through a leaf drifting onto Su Qing's shoulder. His indifferent black eyes opened. It was time.
"The Liu Domain's people couldn't wait any longer either. They've started moving before the death miasma has fully settled."
"A long night breeds too many dreams. I'd be anxious too if I were them."
Su Qing and Mu Chen stood on a hillside outside the Black Nether Abyss, looking down into the abyss below.
The trees were pitch-black, the soil was pitch-black, and even the drifting death miasma was pitch-black.
The pitch-black death miasma hung between the trees like strands of silk floss. Even from the hillside, they could feel the malice within it.
"The Liu Domain's forces have already entered the Black Nether Abyss from the west. We may run into them shortly after we enter."
Zhou Ye gazed at the Black Nether Abyss with a grave expression as he spoke.
The others nodded slightly in agreement. At Mu Feng's command, they swallowed the poison-repelling pills they had prepared and followed him into the abyss.
Their party numbered nearly a hundred, all first-rate fighters seasoned by bloodshed. They wore black, and even their blades had been coated with black grit. Their footsteps were silent, yet they moved swiftly.
They encountered danger several times along the way, but Su Qing dealt with everything using his sword. Neither Zhou Ye nor Mu Feng, both Divine Soul Realm cultivators, needed to act.
After half an hour of travel, they gradually made their way deeper into the Black Nether Abyss.
The Kunwu in Su Qing's hand grew an ever deeper red as blood stained it along the way.
Whoosh! Mu Feng suddenly halted and raised a hand, signaling everyone to stop.
"Liu Qing, since when have you become so fond of hiding your head and showing only your tail?"
Mu Feng stared coldly into the shadows among the trees ahead.
"Just snakes and rats sharing a nest. Dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and a rat's son knows how to dig holes. One look at Liu Yang tells you what sort of vile creature his father is."
Su Qing stood beside Mu Feng and spoke in an indifferent tone.
"You dare, brat!"
With an angry roar, a blast of fierce wind shot from the bushes toward Su Qing.
Su Qing raised a hand to stop Mu Feng from blocking it and stepped forward. He opened his mouth, but instead of chanting an incantation, he let out a clear, sharp cry.
A bolt of thunder crashed down, striking the fierce wind squarely.
Behind the wind, figures emerged from the shadows and formed ranks, facing off against the Mu Domain's forces.
At their forefront stood a man in blue robes with a hostile expression: Liu Qing, the Liu Domain's Domain Lord.
Beside him stood a thin man whose emerald-green eyes were particularly chilling. The fluctuations of his spiritual energy showed that he had already entered the Divine Soul Realm. He was Liu Zong, the Liu Domain's second master.
Several familiar faces stood behind them as well. Liu Mubai, Liu Ming... they had all come along.
The instant the two sides met, swords were drawn and bows were bent. Liu Qing's blast of wind and the lightning Su Qing had summoned only thickened the smell of gunpowder.
"What a sharp tongue! It seems you really were the one who took that thing."
Liu Qing spoke coldly, his face stiff. A step behind him, Liu Ming also glared venomously at Su Qing.
"You mean this Copper Fragment belongs to you?" Su Qing pulled the Copper Fragment from his sleeve and waved it. "Then call out to it. See whether it answers you."
"Hah! Some people hold things without realizing how hot they are. Aren't they afraid of burning themselves to death?" Liu Mubai sneered.
"Sorry I failed to fulfill someone's wishes. With the autumn wind sighing and frost settling on the grass and trees, that fire has kept me lovely and warm."
Su Qing laughed mockingly.
"Mu Feng, you're quite lucky to have picked up a son like this." Liu Qing narrowed his eyes slightly and gave Su Qing a long look.
"Nothing compared to your Liu Domain. It takes real talent to father such a bunch of crooked melons and split dates."
"Liu Qing, oh, Liu Qing. Your offspring shouldn't look like this, surely. Hurry home and investigate. Something might have gone wrong."
Mu Feng mocked him just as Su Qing had.
Mu Chen stood beside them without saying a word, watching the Liu Domain's people with great interest and grinning delightedly.
The Liu Family saw the way Mu Chen looked at them, as though he were watching a monkey trainer tease his monkeys. He said nothing, yet it surpassed anything he could have said.
Silence was the Black Nether Abyss that night.
As the oppressive tension between the two sides continued to mount, a bloody clash had become inevitable.
Suddenly, a faint buzzing broke the heavy atmosphere, making everyone on both sides turn pale-Soul Devouring Bees!
These Spirit Beasts were only palm-sized and unremarkable in strength. Encountering one under ordinary circumstances, they could crush it with a casual squeeze.
But whenever Soul Devouring Bees moved, they came in their thousands and tens of thousands, blotting out the sky and blanketing the earth like a black cloud that devoured life. Wherever they passed, only white bones remained.
The Mu Domain's party hurried away at the sight, the hostile tension between the two sides vanishing without a trace.
Su Qing had no good way to deal with the Soul Devouring Bees either. Although the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends included the Beast-Taming Art, his attempt to use it just now had produced no effect. He did not know whether his mastery was lacking or these creatures fell outside its scope.
Seeing that the black cloud of the Soul Devouring Bee Swarm was about to catch the few skilled fighters at the rear, Su Qing turned and formed hand seals, using Borrow Wind and Spit Flame. Wind fanned the rising fire, holding the swarm back for a moment.
The others took the opportunity to slip into the woods and evade the Soul Devouring Bee Swarm.
"Brother, look at that swarm." Mu Chen walked over to Su Qing, patted his shoulder, and pointed toward the distant bees.
Part of the Soul Devouring Bee Swarm suddenly stopped pursuing them and swept rapidly toward the northwest. A faint flute melody drifted from that direction.
"Dad! I'll go take a look over there. Something seems off."
Su Qing glanced in that direction before speaking to Mu Feng.
Unless something unexpected had happened, that should be where Mu Chen had found the flute that could control Soul Devouring Bees in the original story.
"Stay safe." Mu Feng said no more. He trusted Su Qing's strength; even if he could not defeat the Liu Domain's people, he could still escape.
Before long, Su Qing sped through the woodland and reached the spot.
A basin appeared before Su Qing, with a strangely shaped black tree standing at its center.
Countless Soul Devouring Bees clung to the tree, crawling over it as though something on it were drawing them in.
The flute melody came from the treetop.