Next, White Turtle used Divine Soul transmission to teach Chen Mu the secret technique of the Divine Soul Seed.
"What should I call you?"
Chen Mu asked Landuo.
"My full name is Wuma Landuo. You can just call me Landuo!"
"All right! Landuo, in a moment, you must open your Divine Soul completely and let my Divine Soul Seed merge with it. If you resist in the slightest, I'll have A Huo kill you!"
Chen Mu's tone was cold.
Ever since seeing White Turtle speak, Landuo had become much more respectful toward Chen Mu. He had also heard their conversation and knew what Chen Mu intended to do to him.
As a Nine-Rune Talisman Master, he was quite knowledgeable. He knew that there were animals in this world that surpassed demonic beasts.
If this white turtle really is... a divine beast?
Then this young man is so close to a divine beast, so his background certainly can't be simple either.
He suddenly felt that serving under Chen Mu might not be so hard to accept after all.
"All right! Go ahead! I won't resist!"
Chen Mu chanted an incantation and traced a translucent, arcane symbol in the air with both hands. The symbol then flew toward Landuo and slowly merged into his body.
"Hiss... ah!"
Chen Mu let out a pained growl.
He felt as though his head were being torn in two. The pain tore at his heart and lungs, and his whole body trembled.
After a long while, a pale green light finally flew out of his sea of consciousness and entered Landuo's.
Chen Mu immediately sensed that a trace of his own will had appeared in Landuo's sea of consciousness.
He could vaguely sense Landuo's will. If Landuo had any thoughts of resisting, he would sense them immediately.
If necessary, he could even detonate the Divine Soul Seed and kill Landuo instantly.
After planting the Divine Soul Seed, Chen Mu felt utterly exhausted and mentally weak. He immediately sat down cross-legged.
"Guard me. I'm going to eat the Holy Soul Grass now."
Chen Mu opened the wooden box, pulled out the Holy Soul Grass rather roughly, and stuffed it into his mouth in one bite.
Landuo had wanted to say a few words to stop him. The Holy Soul Grass's medicinal power was extremely potent, and if one's body was not strong enough, it could easily cause harm.
But when he saw the golden light rising from Chen Mu's body, he was too shocked to speak. He sensibly greeted A Huo and went outside the cave to keep watch.
Inside Chen Mu's body, the six spirit runes on his Life-Bound Talisman had long since reached completion. Now, as his stomach digested the Holy Soul Grass, a dense golden light emerged and traveled through his limbs and bones. At last, it surged into his sea of consciousness and merged with his Life-Bound Talisman.
The seventh spirit rune immediately took shape without the slightest obstacle.
The dense golden light showed no signs of weakening. It continued to circle within Chen Mu's sea of consciousness, constantly nourishing his Life-Bound Talisman.
Before long, the eighth spirit rune also appeared.
After the eighth spirit rune appeared, the golden light grew somewhat less dense, but it still lingered in Chen Mu's sea of consciousness, constantly repairing it. The damage caused by separating the Divine Soul Seed was immediately healed by the Holy Soul Grass.
When Chen Mu opened his eyes, it was already broad daylight outside.
He felt as though his entire sea of consciousness had been washed clean. He felt more comfortable than ever before, and stronger than ever before as well.
"I'm now... well, an Eight-Rune Talisman Master, but I'm not far from nine runes either."
A single stalk of Holy Soul Grass was enough to equal four or five years of his own arduous cultivation. No wonder people in the Wilderness loved to fight over such things, and hardly anyone was willing to enter seclusion and cultivate arduously.
However, taking too many external aids could lead to an unstable foundation. In the long run, that might not be a good thing.
"A Mu, you're awake? Come and eat!"
A Huo had made some meat soup and brought Chen Mu a bowl.
After the three of them finished breakfast and packed their belongings, they headed back toward the place where they had entered Ghost Yin Mountain.
Chen Mu had moved extremely slowly before, searching for the Yin Baleful Intent Demonic Tree. Now, however, they only wanted to leave, so they moved much faster. In just over six hours, the three returned to the place where they had parted from the Dragon-Horned Horse.
As soon as Chen Mu emerged from the bounds of Ghost Yin Mountain, the Dragon-Horned Horse let out an excited whinny and emerged from the nearby woods with the Azure Wind Horse.
Three days passed before Chen Mu finally returned to the area around Black Rock Mountain, where Chen Village was located.
His trip to Ghost Yin Mountain had been highly rewarding. Not only had he obtained Soul-Hosting Wood and a large quantity of precious talisman-making materials, but his realm as a talisman master had also broken through to the peak of eight runes.
Chen Mu was excited and couldn't wait to get back to the village.
"Landuo, we're almost there! Hurry up!"
A Huo and Chen Mu rode the Dragon-Horned Horse together, while Landuo rode the Azure Wind Horse. They had traveled at full speed and barely rested along the way.
As the three left the dense forest and crossed the high ground, Chen Mu noticed something was wrong.
In the distance, where Chen Village lay, there seemed to be flames burning, and faint cries of battle reached him.
"This is bad! The village is in danger."
Chen Mu no longer paid any attention to Landuo behind them. He urged the Dragon-Horned Horse on, and it leaped down the mountain like a bolt of lightning.
The Dragon-Horned Horse was famous for its speed and endurance. Running at full tilt, it reached the outskirts of Chen Village in the time it took to drink a cup of tea.
Outside Chen Village, more than a thousand tribal warriors had surrounded it. Their adornments and tribal tattoos fell into several distinct groups; clearly, they were an alliance of several different tribes.
As the saying went, the few were no match for the many. There was no point in playing the lone hero, so Chen Mu pulled A Huo along and first found a patch of grass to hide in.
Although Chen Village was now under siege, Chen Mu had begun setting up a large-scale defensive talisman array around it a year ago. After more than six months of reinforcing it layer by layer, even a Qi Nourishing Realm Martial Master would find it difficult to break through in a short time, unless the village ran out of spirit stones.
Chen Mu raised the Rune Gun and used its sights to observe the battle from afar.
The leader of the attack on Chen Village was a lean man in his thirties. He wasn't charging at the front, however, but directing a group of powerful mechanical puppets to assault the village.
Chen Mu watched for a while longer and spotted a young man in fine robes nearby.
"Wu Tong? It's him!"
Although Chen Mu had met Wu Tong only once, he recognized him at a glance. People who liked to wear such impractical finery were extremely rare in the Wilderness, so he had naturally made an impression.
Chen Mu immediately guessed what had happened. Wu Tong had actually dared to come seeking revenge.
The Wumeng Tribe was more than a hundred kilometers from Chen Village. The conditions along the way were harsh, and demonic beasts were everywhere. A few people traveling together would be fine, but a large-scale march could easily attract the attention of powerful demonic beasts. Normally, no tribe would be willing to undertake such a thankless task.
Since they had managed to assemble such a huge force, they must have summoned warriors from the nearby low-tier tribes.
But under normal circumstances, unless they were certain of victory, why would the nearby low-tier tribes so readily offend Chen Village?
Chen Village was no longer what it once had been. Over the past two years, it had clashed many times with the nearby low-tier tribes, and they had all tasted its strength.
Chen Mu stared thoughtfully at the mechanical puppets attacking Chen Village.
"A Huo, go back and find Landuo. Bring him here."