After leaving the Myriad Phenomena Tower, Chen Mu went straight to the pens where the demon beasts were boarded and rode his Dragon-Horned Horse out of Wuyan Market.
Nan Huaiyuan's news had left him uneasy. He decided to return to the village early and tell Chen Hongjie to stay on guard.
"Little White, something's come up today. Run faster."
At Chen Mu's urging, the Dragon-Horned Horse picked up speed.
The Dragon-Horned Horse was a rare breed from the Wilderness, exceptionally gifted in speed. At a full gallop, an ordinary martial master couldn't catch up to him.
That was why Chen Mu always felt at ease when he came to the market. Even if someone followed him, few could catch him.
As he crossed a canyon, he suddenly noticed a figure flash past the mountain wall ahead.
This is bad! He immediately reined in the Dragon-Horned Horse, intending to turn around and flee.
Unfortunately, it was too late. The figure was incredibly fast and pounced on him in an instant.
Chen Mu kept his cool in the face of danger and flung out two paper talismans with a wave of his hand.
Explosive Flame Talismans!
The two paper talismans burst apart in midair, unleashing a tremendous blast wave. Chen Mu seized the chance to urge the Dragon-Horned Horse forward.
Neigh... chirp, chirp!
The Dragon-Horned Horse suddenly let out a piercing whinny, lost its footing, and toppled sideways.
Chen Mu had no choice but to jump. He hit the ground and rolled, then turned to see that a huge gash had been cut into the Dragon-Horned Horse's front leg.
"Don't move!"
A woman's icy voice rang out beside his ear.
Chen Mu smiled bitterly. He hadn't expected to have a woman hold a blade to his neck yet again. Was he doomed to be at women's mercy in this lifetime?
This time, however, he wasn't completely without a way to resist. Now that he had money, how could he possibly neglect his own safety?
The armor under his clothes was a defensive treasure artifact he had purchased from Hou Sailei at great expense. Chen Mu had also optimized it, adding his strongest defensive talisman array.
He was confident that even a peak Qi Nourishing Realm expert couldn't kill him in a single strike.
"Who are you? Why did you capture me?"
The other party had lain in ambush here but hadn't killed him outright. It seemed he wasn't her target.
"Take me to your master!"
The black-clad woman who had come to capture Chen Mu was none other than Mingye, whom Tuoba Ziying had sent to kill Chen Mu's master.
Mingye had been keeping watch around Chen Village for days. She had even questioned several villagers using a mind-bewitching secret technique, but none of them had ever seen Chen Mu's master.
This gave her quite a headache. She didn't dare touch the villagers of Chen Village, or who knew whether Chen Haoran would go mad? But if things continued like this, she had no idea what year of the monkey or month of the horse it would be before Chen Mu's master showed himself.
Capturing Chen Mu was a measure she had been forced to take. After all, of everyone in Chen Village, he was the one most likely to know where her target was.
When Chen Mu heard what the black-clad woman said, he nearly rolled his eyes.
As the saying went, one lie needed countless more to cover it up. He finally understood what it meant to spin a cocoon around oneself. Where was he supposed to find a master for her now?
Chen Mu racked his brains and finally came up with an idea.
"My master is in seclusion. If you need him for something, you can tell me directly. I can pass it on the next time he comes to see me."
"There's no need. I want to see him face-to-face."
Mingye's goal was to kill his master, so naturally she wouldn't let him pass on a message.
"But my master is in Soul Severing Valley. It's extremely dangerous there, and even I don't know exactly where he is."
"Soul Severing Valley?"
Mingye frowned. She had never heard of Soul Severing Valley, but the dangerous places in the Wilderness were as numerous as the hairs on an ox. Apart from the most famous ones, it was hardly surprising she hadn't heard of the others.
"You'd better not play any tricks, or I'll kill you on the spot!"
Mingye's tone was icy.
Chen Mu knew she was not to be trifled with, but he had no other choice now. He could only hold firm.
"I'm absolutely not lying to you! Let me go, and I'll take you there now."
Mingye gave a cold snort, withdrew the dagger from Chen Mu's neck, and stepped aside.
The Dragon-Horned Horse's front leg was injured. Though the wound wasn't serious, it could no longer carry a rider, so Chen Mu had to go on foot.
"This way."
Without dragging his feet, Chen Mu set off at a run.
The mountain paths in the Wilderness were especially difficult to traverse. Without the Dragon-Horned Horse, their progress was much slower.
Mingye didn't rush him, however, and followed right behind Chen Mu every step of the way.
After traveling for more than two hours, the two finally reached their destination: a valley shrouded in thick white mist.
"This is Soul Severing Valley. My master mentioned it to me before. He stays here to cultivate in seclusion. If I ever run into a problem I can't solve, I can come here to find him."
Naturally, Mingye didn't entirely believe Chen Mu. She pressed her blade against his back.
"You go first!"
Chen Mu smiled bitterly.
"Big sister, all I know is that my master is in here. This valley is so big, I don't know where to start looking either."
"Then we'll search the valley bit by bit. It's all right, I'll keep you company.
"But if we search the entire valley and can't find him, then you can stay here forever!"
Mingye's voice was clear and pleasant, but to Chen Mu's ears, it carried a bone-piercing chill.
He didn't dare say anything more and walked into the valley.
"Master!! Master, where are you? Your disciple has come to see you!"
As the saying went, an act had to be played to the end. Chen Mu walked along, shouting at the top of his lungs and frightening the birds and beasts in the valley into scattering in all directions.
After a while, Chen Mu encountered a leopard-like demon beast. Instead of fleeing, it roared and pounced at him.
Whoosh...!
A flash of silver light streaked past. The leopard-like demon beast was completely unable to resist as the silver light cleaved it in two, and it fell from the air.
Chen Mu had been hoping to escape in the chaos, but after witnessing that strike, his pupils contracted in fright.
Is this the strength of the Qi Nourishing Realm? How can it be so powerful!
He had to reassess Mingye's strength. She was definitely no ordinary Qi Nourishing Realm cultivator. She was at least at the middle stage of the Qi Nourishing Realm, perhaps even the late stage.
Mingye beckoned, and the silver light she had just thrown returned to her hand. Chen Mu glanced at it and saw that it was a small silver throwing knife.
A treasure artifact!
Chen Mu knew that anything capable of flying back to its owner's hand on its own had to be a treasure artifact that had undergone spirit forging.
Like spirit stones, treasure artifacts were divided into grades one through nine, from lowest to highest. The one in Mingye's hand was at least a grade-three treasure artifact.
"Don't play tricks. Keep walking!"
Chen Mu was even less willing to make a rash move. He obediently continued forward.
There were considerably more demon beasts in Soul Severing Valley than outside, but Mingye was so powerful that virtually none they encountered could survive a single strike from her.
Demon beasts were not lacking in intelligence. As the smell of blood on her grew stronger, Chen Mu encountered fewer and fewer of them. Eventually, he went more than an hour without running into a single demon beast.
They had almost covered half the valley, and Chen Mu was close to despair.
At that moment, an opportunity finally presented itself.