Chapter 397 - 370: Knocking on the Door

Chapter 397: Chapter 370: Knocking on the Door

"Alright, that’s enough arguing. No matter who the thief was, they must have left some tracks. If we investigate carefully, we’re bound to find some clues. Instead of bickering here, I suggest you all start looking for those clues!"

Seeing the five Manor Masters arguing more and more intensely, the City Lord shook his head helplessly and spoke.

"That’s right. There are definitely clues left behind..."

Mu Ruo nodded and was about to head toward the basement.

’No, I can’t let him go into the basement like this. If he follows the passage to investigate, who knows how long it’ll take? The Spirit Rhinoceros Spring Water will probably have completely evaporated by then! I have to act fast!’

Seeing Mu Ruo about to enter the basement to search for clues, Nie Yun, who was outside, grew anxious.

The Spirit Rhinoceros Spring Water evaporated far too quickly. If he let them go inside to look for clues, they probably wouldn’t find anything in a short amount of time. If he delayed any longer, all his hard work would amount to nothing more than two useless gourds.

"Manor Master, Manor Master, something’s wrong..."

An idea struck him. Nie Yun shouted as he flew in from outside the courtyard.

"Mu Yan? What happened?" Seeing Nie Yun, Mu Ruo frowned and asked.

"Manor Master, I was sleeping in my room just now when I suddenly saw a figure dash out. I didn’t know who it was, so I followed close behind. To my surprise, the person flew straight to Muaixia Manor and completely emptied their Treasure Vault!"

Nie Yun said anxiously.

"What? Emptied our Treasure Vault? Are you sure?"

Before Mu Ruo could even react to this, Mu Qi had already jumped to his feet.

He had just been gloating over the other party’s Treasure Vault being robbed. He never expected his own to be plundered so quickly.

"Yes, I saw it with my own eyes. But that person was simply too strong. I was no match for them at all, so I rushed back to inform you!" Nie Yun said hurriedly.

"Since he just robbed Muaixia Manor, he can’t have gotten far. Let’s go after him! We might still be able to catch him!"

Hearing this, the Manor Masters exchanged a glance and nodded in unison. SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH! In an instant, the five Manor Masters and the City Lord all took flight, speeding toward Muaixia Manor.

’I tricked them all that easily!’

Once everyone was gone, Nie Yun gave a faint smile, and with a flash, he darted toward the basement.

Following the passage, he quickly reached the area of the stone basement. With a grand sweep of his hand, Nie Yun pulled the entire stone chamber up from below, flipped his palm, and stored it in the Zihua Cave Mansion.

’You all can go make a fuss. I’m going to continue my research on the Spirit Rhinoceros Spring Water...’

Having obtained what he wanted, Nie Yun chuckled, returned to his own courtyard, dispelled his Disguise Qi, and slipped into the Zihua Cave Mansion.

’First, I need to plug the hole in this stone room!’

He had smashed a large hole in this stone basement with a single sword strike. If he didn’t seal it, the Spirit Rhinoceros Spring Water would continue to evaporate.

He found the fragments from his sword strike and patched the hole piece by piece, sealing all the cracks with his True Qi. Only then did Nie Yun move the two large gourds over.

Sure enough, as soon as the gourds were placed inside the stone room, the rate of evaporation immediately slowed. The entire chamber filled with an exhilarating aroma.

’Now I have plenty of time. I’ll study this Spirit Rhinoceros Spring Water and figure out what’s going on with it, and why it’s so heavy...’

Walking over to the Little Gourd, Nie Yun reached out and opened the lid. Inside, he saw a dozen or so drops of liquid flowing about. Each drop was radiant and bright, like mercury.

Just by smelling it, Nie Yun felt his muscles begin to twitch uncontrollably with excitement. Every cell in his body felt as if it had consumed a Great Nourishing Pill, and he couldn’t help but feel them surge with energy.

’This really is good stuff... It can increase muscle activity, but how do I use it? And how do I achieve Telepathy with it?’

His powerful Soul Power circled the drops of water several times, but he couldn’t detect any fluctuation of will within them. Nie Yun’s brow furrowed into a knot.

The water drops had no soul fluctuations. How could he establish Telepathy with them?

If you want to fall in love, the other party first has to be able to communicate with you. How can you fall in love with a rock or a tree?

This Spirit Rhinoceros Spring Water, though strange, was just like an ordinary liquid. It had no will fluctuations at all. Without will fluctuations, communication was impossible. How could he form a telepathic link with it?

After scratching his head for a long time, Nie Yun still couldn’t figure it out. He shook his head helplessly and called over Mu Qing and Mu Xia.

Although the two were peripheral disciples of the Ancient City, it was also their first time seeing Spirit Rhinoceros Spring Water. They studied it for a long time but couldn’t make heads or tails of it, so they had to give up.

"Forget it. You two continue researching here. I’m going to head out first!"

After researching for an unknown amount of time without any results, Nie Yun shook his head, stood up, and left the Zihua Cave Mansion.

The moment he returned to the courtyard, he suddenly froze.

’Huh? Why are they all coming toward me? Have I been found out?’

Nie Yun’s brow furrowed.

In his senses, the five Manor Masters, including Mu Ruo and Mu Qi, and the City Lord were whistling through the air, flying in his direction. It seemed they were coming for him!

’Have my actions been discovered?’

’Impossible!’ The moment the thought appeared, Nie Yun immediately dismissed it.

’While it’s not like I left zero traces, it shouldn’t be that easy for them to find out!’

After all, every time he committed a crime, he disguised himself as someone else. His Disguise Master Talent was second to none. If he could be seen through so easily, there would be no point in living.

Back on the Floating Heaven Continent, the Divine Thief Qiang Huan had disguised himself at will, tricking countless people to the point of desperation without ever being discovered. Every single one of his victims was far more powerful than these Manor Masters. He refused to believe that his own talent was so much worse than that of the Divine Thief Qiang Huan.

’No matter what, I should go out and see. If I don’t go out to meet them, my clever trick might just backfire!’

Mulling it over, Nie Yun stood up, pushed the door open, and walked out.

As he came out, he had already stored the disguised Mu Jie inside the Zihua Cave Mansion, so he was the only one left in the courtyard. He wasn’t afraid of their investigation.

SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH!

Just as he stepped into the courtyard, he heard several sonic booms as six figures landed.

"Mu Yun, how dare you mess with us! You’re courting death!"

The moment he entered the courtyard, Mu Ruo let out a furious roar, his eyebrows raised. "Hand over the things you took from my Treasure Vault! Otherwise, I’ll kill you right now and leave you with no place for burial!"

’Hm?’ Seeing their towering rage and overwhelming auras the moment they arrived, Nie Yun thought, ’This is bad.’ He was just about to flee when a thought suddenly struck him, and he understood.

’They must be trying to bluff me. If I run now, I’ll be admitting my guilt, and any hope of entering the so-called Lingxi Celestial Palace will be gone!’

’Although I haven’t figured out how to communicate with the Spirit Rhinoceros Spring Water yet, this stuff can increase muscle activity. It’s an incredibly rare treasure. And with a treasure like this, of course, the more the better!’

"Manor Master, what do you mean by that?" Having figured this out, Nie Yun immediately put on an indignant expression, staring fixedly at Mu Ruo without blinking, showing no sign of backing down.

"What do I mean? You know perfectly well. You were able to make Manor Master Mu Qi kneel, which means your soul has reached the Mid-Stage Spirit Level. How can an Ultimate Venerable possess such powerful Soul Power? Who are you, really? What is your purpose for coming to our Ancient City? Confess everything, and we might spare your life. Otherwise, you will die today!"

The City Lord took a step forward, his eyes sharp and piercing, as if trying to see straight into Nie Yun’s heart.

However, Nie Yun had lived two lives and was as cunning as a fox. How could his innermost thoughts be so easily seen through?

"Haha..." Instead of answering right away, Nie Yun burst out laughing.

Making Manor Master Mu Qi kneel before was just something he did on a whim. He hadn’t expected it to become a flaw in his story. However, since he dared to do it then, he had naturally prepared an explanation and left himself a way out.

"You are all esteemed masters of the Secret Realm. Surely you know about Talismans? Surely you know about Soul Marks?"

After laughing, Nie Yun looked at the group before him, his gaze icy.

"I am a peripheral disciple, but for someone so young to have such strength—don’t you find that strange? That’s right, it’s because I have a powerful master! This time, when I returned to the Ancient City, my master feared someone might harm me, so he specifically left a Soul Mark in my body for me to trigger in times of danger! I never thought that triggering the mark would lead you to mistake me for an expert with a Mid-Stage Spirit Level soul. How ridiculous! If I really had such a powerful soul, why wouldn’t I be trying to break through to the Secret Realm instead of remaining an ordinary Ultimate Venerable?"

Nie Yun spun a tall tale, once again bringing up his master.

Anyway, his non-existent master had already "come back from the dead" many times. One more time wouldn’t hurt. Might as well let him keep "coming back"...

"This..."

Hearing the young man’s words, everyone was stunned.

Indeed, there was a world of difference between peripheral disciples and the disciples of the Ancient City. Without the guidance of a great master or a special opportunity, reaching the Ultimate Venerable Realm before the age of twenty was simply impossible!

Not only had this young man before them reached the Ultimate Venerable Realm, but he was so strong that even they were wary of him. If he claimed he didn’t have a great master’s guidance, none of them would believe it.

"How can you prove that what you’re saying is true?"

Understanding this point, the City Lord’s attitude changed. He hesitated for a moment before asking.

"Isn’t that simple? I’ll just trigger the mark my master left again and let you feel it for yourselves. You are all experts; I’m sure you can tell whether it’s real or fake! And you must also know that a master of his caliber wouldn’t deign to lie to you!"

Nie Yun lied without batting an eye.

"Fine, then. If you don’t have this mark your master supposedly left, we swear we won’t let this matter rest today!" Mu Ruo gritted his teeth.

"Hmph!" Ignoring his threat, Nie Yun slowly closed his eyes, secretly activating the Nameless Technique with his Spiritual Power.

BOOM!

In an instant, a powerful and surging pressure descended, blanketing everything. It was as immense as the Milky Way crashing to earth, as overwhelming as a river reversing its flow—a pressure so thick it was suffocating!

WHOOSH!

The pressure of the Chains vanished as quickly as it appeared, and Nie Yun opened his eyes.

This time, he had activated the Nameless Technique for a very short duration. Plus, his Spiritual Power was much stronger than before, so he only felt a brief moment of dizziness before recovering. He didn’t experience the exhaustion that would normally make him fall asleep.

"I suppose you all believe me now!"

His expression dark, Nie Yun let out a cold snort. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)