Chapter 351 - 322: Awakening

Chapter 351: Chapter 322: Awakening

"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH..."

Chu Mu’s body was covered in bloody wounds. His Magic Robe, a Top Grade Spiritual Artifact, was torn to shreds.

The moment he hit the ground, he ignored his wretched state, rolling over and forcing himself back to his feet.

Amidst the dust and dirt, a colossal figure, like a god or a demon, appeared. A giant fist wreathed in Demon Flame stirred the earth as it surged toward him again.

Chu Mu managed to throw out the corroded Shield. As the Shield spun, its Artifact Pattern Array Prohibition faintly flickered.

The fist wreathed in Demon Flame descended, and an indescribably terrifying Power slammed into the Shield.

The wisp of a Divine Sense Imprint he had placed on the Shield shattered instantly under this terrifying Power.

Now that its connection to his Divine Sense Imprint was severed, the Shield, which he controlled with his Divine Sense, became like a kite with a broken string. It was smashed directly into the dirt by the fist.

"Such petty tricks can’t possibly block my True Form of the Bull Demon!"

The man stood in the sky, wreathed in Demon Flame. His wild, arrogant laughter echoed between heaven and earth.

Chu Mu’s expression turned grim.

He had often heard the saying "one force breaks all techniques" ever since he first entered the Cultivation Immortal Realm.

But even for him, it had always been just something he’d heard about.

From his old Wild Bull Technique to his current Great Sun Scripture, his combat methods had always relied more on artifacts, Sword Intent, and True Flame.

Power, to him, was merely for Support.

He had never paid much mind to the concept of "one force breaks all techniques."

But now, this Demon Cultivator and his so-called True Form of the Bull Demon...

He wasn’t using many Divine Techniques, just pure Power!

No matter how many techniques Chu Mu had, this man met them all with a single punch.

One force breaks all techniques!

He couldn’t withstand it. Despite his myriad techniques, he was constrained at every turn.

At this moment, Chu Mu had a sudden realization.

He had many, many techniques.

Any single one of them was enough to easily crush an ordinary Cultivator of the same realm.

This was true for his Body Refining, his Sword Intent, his True Flame, and especially his Artifact Refining Skill.

But apart from his Artifact Refining Skill, he had failed to fully convert his other abilities into true Combat Power.

’My Sword Intent, True Flame, and even my Body Refining are all just a result of ordinary Cultivation. They’re not half-baked, but I haven’t deeply honed them either.’

’Against ordinary Cultivators, I can crush them with ease.’

’But when facing a powerful existence like the one before me, I’m stretched thin and find myself constrained at every turn.’

’Perhaps it’s time I went into seclusion to consolidate my skills for a while...’

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Chu Mu flicked his finger. The Moonlight Battle Armor, which he considered his life-saving trump card, suddenly materialized before him.

The Battle Armor immediately broke apart, its individual components fitting perfectly onto Chu Mu’s body. Finally, with a flash of light, the Artifact Pattern Array Prohibition appeared, only to dim an instant later, leaving nothing but the pure sheen of metal.

The feathered wings extended. With a flap, Chu Mu leaped into the air and hovered in the sky.

The Battle Armor exuded a murderous aura. The wings beat, leaving only an afterimage in his place. In the next instant, the man who was still gloating in the sky was smashed directly into the pile of dust and dirt below.

BOOM!

The Feathered Battle Armor descended from the sky. A slash of his blade left a gash several feet deep and several meters long in the iron-hard ground.

The Demon Cultivator took another heavy blow. Under the force of the slash, his massive body was brutally slammed into the ground.

BANG!

Another slash fell. Amidst the churning dust, a giant fist wreathed in Demon Flame appeared. With the clang of metal on metal and a ferocious roar, the man stomped his right foot hard on the ground. A terrifying force radiated outward from him.

A shockwave swept out as the man shot into the air, his Demon Flame-wreathed fist aimed straight at the sky.

Before him, Chu Mu hovered with his wings outstretched. Under the blazing sun, the wings shone brilliantly. His pure white blade, tainted by the Demon Flame, took on a demonic, alluring quality.

He looked at the rapidly approaching Demon Cultivator, his eyes now filled with thick killing intent.

BOOM!

In the sky, the two figures collided violently.

The blade descended like an iron curtain falling from the sky. In the blink of an eye, several slashes rained down. Relying on the strength of his Demon Body, the man met each slash with his fists.

The piercing sound of CLANG, CLANG, CLANG echoed wildly through the area, contained only by the Array Prohibition and reverberating within the small space.

This time, however, the Demon Cultivator was clearly not faring well.

Although Chu Mu hadn’t deeply honed his Body Refining, his physique was already strong from years of cumulative True Flame Body Refining. Now, amplified by the Battle Armor, his Power was even more terrifying.

Coupled with the sharpness of his Sword Intent and the restraining effect of his Great Sun True Flame—a power of Supreme Yang and Firmness—on the Demon Cultivator, the scales of this life-and-death battle had already begun to silently tip.

Under the storm of slashes, the man was forced back step by step. The rage in his heart grew, and as if fueled by his anger, the Demon Flame swirling around him intensified.

"Die!"

At the height of the fierce battle, the man opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of pitch-black Demon Blood, which shot out like an arrow.

"Get lost!"

Chu Mu roared, kicking the man back down to the ground. With no time to dodge, he could only fling out a wave of True Flame to barely block the mouthful of Demon Blood.

But in an instant, Chu Mu’s expression changed. His True Flame was actually being corroded by the Demon Blood!

He snorted coldly and formed a hand seal, pouring a torrent of Magical Power into the True Flame, which finally managed to counteract the Demon Blood’s terrifying corrosion.

He raised his hand, about to completely seal the Demon Blood, but in the next moment, a terrible premonition washed over him.

Without a second thought, he flapped his wings and leaped away. He heard a faint explosion as the glob of Demon Blood shattered, turning into countless tiny Blood Pearls that shot out in all directions.

Blood splattered onto his Battle Armor. Almost instantly, tiny pits from the corrosion became visible to the naked eye.

’This Demon Cultivator is unusually difficult to deal with!’

The man’s face was also grim. That mouthful of Demon Blood was a trump card he had nurtured for years, yet using it so suddenly had failed to achieve its full effect.

’This kid is tough!’

He had never seen such a troublesome Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment cultivator!

"Forcing me to this extent, you can go die now!"

The man roared madly and struck his own chest. His skin ripped open, revealing bloody wounds from which countless Demon Patterns emerged. Wisps of True Demon Qi flowed out as his body began to transform once again.

Where he had previously retained some semblance of a human form, his body was now completely twisted. His limbs pointed to the ground as he fully transformed into a... Demon Bull!

"GO DIE!"

The Demon Bull’s eyes bulged with rage, completely devoid of reason, filled only with bloodthirsty madness. It shot into the sky, Demonic Qi sweeping out like a mountain torrent, wreathed in Demon Flame. Demon Blood sprayed from its torn flesh as its horns aimed for the heavens!

"Hahahaha, let’s see who dies first!"

Chu Mu had also been pushed to his limit. He let out a crazed laugh and, instead of dodging, charged forward to meet the terrifying attack head-on.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Both of them were now fighting with everything they had. The unrestrained collisions produced a continuous series of deafening explosions.

Even the Array Prohibition that sealed off the area rippled under the constant barrage of explosions, looking as if it were on the verge of collapse.

Meanwhile, outside the Array Prohibition, a crowd of Cultivators had gathered.

An Array Prohibition, and an Illusion Transformation Array at that, had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. For a short time, no one might have noticed.

But with more than half a street sealed off by the Array Prohibition, such an anomaly could not stay hidden for long.

Especially since the commotion from the great battle within was constantly causing strange phenomena in the Array Prohibition.

Outside the Array Prohibition, disciples wearing Longevity Robes had already cordoned off the entire area.

Xu Changqing had also arrived outside the Array Prohibition, his face extremely grim.

"Hall Master, this Array Prohibition seems to have appeared only after you left the pavilion."

"We can’t find Chu Honored Guest Elder. The surveillance recordings don’t show him leaving. He should still be in the pavilion..."

"The Array Prohibition is connected to the City Defense Array. We’ve tried to break through it, but with little effect..."

"However, this Array is likely just a temporary Array Prohibition. It probably won’t last for long..."

A Longevity Sect disciple reported, but Xu Changqing didn’t respond. His gaze was fixed on the illusion created by the Array Prohibition before him.

The illusion was already starting to look unnatural. Faint, flickering ripples could be seen within it.

Clearly, a great battle was taking place inside the sealed-off area.

"Never mind this place. Take some men and conduct a thorough search of the entire city. Personally inspect everyone, including the Cultivators from our own sect!"

Xu Changqing’s voice was bone-chillingly cold. He had just dealt with a few inside agents whose identities he’d discovered through Soul Search. He thought things might quiet down for a bit, but reality had just slapped him in the face again.

Right here in South City, which was supposed to be under his control, an Array Prohibition had been brazenly set up!

To kill a Cultivator he had personally invited.

’What is Chu Mu’s Cultivation?’

’Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment!’

’Judging from his overt abilities alone, an ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivator is no match for him.’

’That means at least one Late Stage of Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator has made a move...’

’It seems the clues from the Soul Searches only revealed a fraction of the network hidden within Chu Capital.’

’Such a vast network, with so many Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators and collaborators... there must be an existence above the Foundation Establishment realm coordinating things in Chu Capital.’

’A Golden Core?’

Xu Changqing mused.

BOOM!

Just then, an earth-shattering explosion rang out, and the illusion just before them suddenly shattered.

Dust and dirt filled the air as something seemed to fall from the sky. With a muffled roar, a huge hole was smashed into a pavilion. A flash of blade light then appeared, cleaving the damaged pavilion in two.

Immediately after, a suit of battered Armor appeared in the sky. It was covered in bloody marks and dents, and its feathered wings were tattered and torn.

Anyone who saw it would assume this Battle Armor had just been through an incredibly brutal battle.

The Battle Armor descended from the sky, its myriad feathers shooting out like blades. A cold blade light flashed and a sea of fire surged, completely obliterating the already ruined pavilion.

When the dust settled, the battered Battle Armor emerged, and a mangled Demon Body was casually tossed in front of Xu Changqing.

The helmet of the Battle Armor retracted, revealing Chu Mu’s slightly pale face. He looked at Xu Changqing and said in a teasing tone:

"I’m afraid I took a big loss this time!"

...