Chapter 265 - 253: Sudden Change

Chapter 265: Chapter 253: Sudden Change

The ring slid onto his index finger. If not for the distinct sensation at his fingertip, he might have thought he was hallucinating.

The corners of his mouth curled into a slight smile. He eagerly left a Divine Sense Imprint upon the Storage Ring.

The stable space within became perfectly clear to his perception.

He toyed with it admiringly for a long while before finally taking out the stack of Storage Talismans he carried.

Most of the Storage Talismans he had purchased had a time limit of about one month. However, they were all in a sealed state when he bought them.

In other words, as long as they remained sealed, the Storage Space within them would be maintained. This only extended their lifespan, however; it didn’t make them permanent.

The Storage Ring he had refined was the same.

It simply meant the Storage Space’s lifespan had been extended by a great deal, not that it could last forever.

As time passed and the Power of Space dissipated, the internal space of any Storage Talisman or storage Artifact would eventually collapse.

Now that he had a Storage Ring, these Storage Talismans were clearly redundant.

He emptied the various items from several Storage Talismans, laying them out neatly before him in clearly sorted piles.

After more than a year in seclusion practicing his Artifact Refining Skill, his once mountain-like pile of possessions had dwindled by well over half.

About a hundred Jade Boxes held aged Spirit Medicines.

Tens of thousands of Spirit Stones were piled up like a small mountain.

His once-abundant supply of Elixirs had been all but devoured by Wangcai like candy over the past few years, save for a few he kept to restore his Magical Power.

And the Artifact Refining Spiritual Materials, which had once filled several Storage Talismans, were now down to just a few lonely types.

Half of a bloody, giant serpent’s head, a piece of Tier Two Upper Grade Red Flame Iron, a piece of Tier Two Middle Grade Wind Nether Stone, the corpse of that mysterious ribbonfish, and several dozen Soul Condensing Stones, the primary Spiritual Material for a Puppet’s intelligent core.

As for the finished products refined from his many Spiritual Materials...

They were too numerous to count.

There was the First Generation Fire Cavalry Puppet he had meticulously designed and refined, a dozen or so assorted Magical Artifacts, and various other fantastically conceived creations.

There was the motion-activated Spiritual Bomb, an Upper Grade Spiritual Artifact with a built-in Invisible Concealing Breath Array Prohibition. It could be calibrated to detect the Five Elements Attribute, targeting fluctuations in Magical Power or Spiritual Qi of a specific Attribute. Upon detection, it would immediately explode.

There were also the reconnaissance Artifacts he had spent much time developing. Some maintained the dragonfly shape, while others resembled the micro-drones of his past life, or even miniature fighter jets.

There were derivative versions of the Giant Divine Arm, some in the form of half-armor, others shaped like gauntlets...

These were clearly a far cry from the simple trinkets he had tinkered with in the beginning.

While this motley collection of creations wasn’t of much use to him as a Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator...

...they posed a tangible threat to any Cultivator in the Qi Cultivation Realm.

Every last one was a legitimate Magical Artifact!

He had also designed second-generation versions for most of them. Just like the Second-Generation Fire Cavalry, there were several different subsequent models in the works.

He was confident he could refine them, too.

However...

Even the most skilled housewife can’t cook without rice.

He had precious few Spiritual Materials on hand.

Without the necessary Spiritual Materials, he had no way to put his skills to use, no matter how great they were.

"So be it!"

Chu Mu let out a long breath. With a wave of his hand, all the items piled before him vanished into the Storage Ring.

He then formed a hand seal and cast a Cleaning Skill. Every trace he had left behind in the cavern was compressed into a black sphere the size of a human head.

A flash of fire, and in the blink of an eye, the black sphere turned to cinder.

After deactivating the Array Prohibition, he gestured to Wangcai. An instant later, he reappeared in his bedroom.

The wooden door had rotted away completely. A few steps brought him to stand under the eaves.

It was early autumn, and a bleakness had already settled over the courtyard.

’But... why is this bleakness... one of total decay, where not a single blade of grass grows?’

Chu Mu’s brow twitched as he seemed to sense something amiss.

Wangcai, following close behind, had already crouched low, letting out a soft whimper as if it had encountered a dangerous enemy.

Chu Mu frowned slightly and looked up at the sky.

It was clearly noon, a time when the Great Sun should have been hanging high, its brilliant light shining down.

And yet, the sky was a hazy gray. ’This gray...’

With a light wave of his sleeve, a wisp of pale gray energy coiled around his fingertips.

’Grayness from the sky, a dense aura of death...’

After a moment of probing it with his Divine Sense, a flame flashed, and the pale gray wisp dissolved into a puff of black smoke.

"Corrosion..."

Chu Mu’s expression turned grim. Gazing at the pale gray blanketing the sky, he forced out a single word.

Spiritual Qi also had a corrosive effect.

But the corrosion of Spiritual Qi was a positive one.

When it suffused a human body, it could strengthen it, grant immunity to all diseases, and even set one upon the Immortal Path.

When it saturated the earth and stones, it could slowly change their nature, transforming them into Spiritual Materials.

When it infused plants and trees, it could give them a chance to surpass the limits of their natural life cycles...

This type of corrosion was beneficial.

But negative corrosion...

Take the Black Fog Energy, for example. Under its indescribably evil and tyrannical corrosive effect, the world became a living Purgatory!

And this pale gray aura of death before him, this negative corrosion...

He tried extending his Divine Sense—ten meters, a hundred meters, a thousand meters...

All was deathly silent.

Yet within this silence, the mortals who had once filled the bustling city, regardless of their station, had all been reduced to desiccated corpses. They now roamed the city like the walking dead.

"Zombies..."

’So, is this... Yin Qi? Or Corpse Qi?’

Chu Mu frowned. The answer was obvious.

Yin Qi was cold and sinister, not deathly still.

The pale gray aura of death, coupled with a city full of Zombies...

’But why would Corpse Qi leak into a mortal city?’

In the Cultivation Immortal Realm, countless forms of Alien Energy had evolved from Spiritual Qi.

And apart from Spiritual Qi and a few rare exceptions, most of these Alien Energies, while a source of Cultivation and Combat Power for the user, were a negative, corrosive force to everyone else!

Take his own Supreme Yang and Firmest Magical Power, for instance. To him, it was a formidable power that repelled all evil.

But if that Magical Power were to overflow and dissipate into the surroundings, it would become a surging True Flame Technique of Supreme Yang and Firmness!

An ordinary Cultivator in the Qi Cultivation Realm would likely be injured on contact and would surely die if they tried to withstand it directly!

As for mortals, they would have likely been reduced to ash long ago.

Of course, in the Cultivation Immortal Realm, it made no difference to mortals whether an Alien Energy with negative corrosive properties was strong or weak.

After all, any negative Alien Energy was an unbearable burden for a mortal, even for one at the peak of their Qi Blood. Death was certain!

The entire population of Xiangyin City, tens of thousands of men, women, and children, had all become walking corpses.

’But what is the source of this Alien Energy?’

Chu Mu was a little puzzled. If this large-scale coverage was intentional, then any Corpse Cultivator in the Qi Cultivation Realm could probably have done it.

But if it were unintentional...

...for it to cover such a large area, then...

Chu Mu patted Wangcai’s head. Without hesitation, he leaped into the air, positioning himself high above the city. He had barely begun to scan the area with his Divine Sense when he spotted several streaks of sword light flying toward him from the distant sky.

Chu Mu frowned, but his expression soon relaxed.

’Just a few Cultivators from the Qi Cultivation Realm.’

’However... those pure white Magic Robes clearly identify them.’

Chu Mu glanced around. ’If I remember correctly, this should be the territory of Luofu County...’

Luofu County wasn’t exactly a key location, but... ’for Longevity Sect disciples to appear so brazenly in the current climate...’

As his thoughts raced, the streaks of sword light reached the dead city. They seemed to have spotted Chu Mu, as they abruptly changed direction at the city’s edge and headed straight for him.

"Who are you?"

The voice arrived before the figures.

Chu Mu raised an eyebrow, and in the next moment, several figures appeared before him.

Three men and two women, all at the Qi Cultivation Perfection level.

They all wore the Magic Robes of the Longevity Sect, making their identities obvious.

Chu Mu sized up the five Cultivators before him with great interest.

’Their formation is quite interesting.’

’It looks casual, but they’ve already surrounded me. At the slightest provocation, they’ll likely launch a thunderous assault.’

Clearly, these five disciples of the Longevity Sect had a deep rapport.

"This area is an important location for my sect. Fellow Cultivator, please leave at once!"

one of the men said in a low voice.

Chu Mu feigned surprise. "Since when did this place become an important location for the Longevity Sect?"

The man’s face darkened. "What do you mean by that?"

The others also glared at him with clear hostility, radiating an aura that suggested they would attack him at the slightest disagreement.

Just as the atmosphere grew tense, before Chu Mu could ask another question, a sudden roar erupted from the courtyard below. Wangcai had just smashed several Zombies that had broken into the yard to pieces with a single swipe of its paw.

Wangcai then leaped into the air, coming to a stop beside Chu Mu. It let out a low growl, its eyes fixed on the Longevity Sect disciples as if it were sizing up its next meal.

"That’s Chu Mu!"

Upon seeing Wangcai, one of the women seemed to make a connection and suddenly cried out in alarm.

Immediately, the disciples’ expressions changed. Their initial wariness instantly transformed into avarice, and surges of Magical Power began to emanate from them!

"Silence!"

Chu Mu’s expression turned icy. With a single low command, the flickering waves of Magical Power from the Longevity Sect disciples were instantly suppressed!

"Foun... Foundation Establishment!"

The avarice that had just surged within them was instantly crushed by the terrifying pressure of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Their faces paled. They wanted to flee, but a terrifying premonition, a sense of unseen danger, kept them frozen in place.

"I will ask, and you will answer."

Chu Mu gently stroked Wangcai’s head, his icy gaze fixed on the Longevity Sect disciples as he spoke slowly.

"As you command, Senior!"

They spoke in unison, not daring to even breathe too loudly.

After a moment’s thought, Chu Mu asked, "Why has this place become Longevity Sect territory?"

The disciples exchanged a glance, and soon, one of the men cupped his fist and spoke.

"In response to Senior, more than two years ago..."

...