Chapter 247: Chapter 242: Encounter
Upon hearing this, Mu Chen turned his head, confused. He looked at Elder Mu and asked, "Is there something else, Elder Mu?"
Elder Mu pursed his lips. "You’re too careless, kid. You have to know, the lands outside the Empire are crawling with assassins from the Celestial Eagle Empire. They don’t dare enter the Empire because I’m here, but if you just swagger out like that, aren’t you just serving yourself up on a platter?"
Mu Chen froze. He really hadn’t considered this. The Celestial Eagle Empire had come to the Xuanling Empire in force, but they never expected that the Xuanling Empire was hiding a powerful Saint. Elder Mu’s appearance not only dealt them a humiliating setback, but their Grand Elder was beaten black and blue by him. In the end, they could only retreat in disgrace.
As soon as word got out, the Celestial Eagle Empire was met with scorn from the other empires. With his only son killed and the Empire’s honor in tatters, He Yunfeng had stationed countless assassins around the Xuanling Empire’s borders. The moment Mu Chen stepped outside, he would be swarmed by assassins who wouldn’t rest until he was dead.
After hearing Elder Mu’s words, Mu Chen felt his scalp go numb. ’If I hadn’t come to see Elder Mu today, I might already be on my way out of the Xuanling Empire right now.’
"What should I do, then?" Mu Chen asked Elder Mu respectfully.
"Well, of course there’s a way." As he spoke, Elder Mu produced a Storage Ring from his sleeve and handed it to Mu Chen. "This ring has twenty portions of Shadow Concealing Dust. It’s something I used to use frequently. Take it all. In a little while, I’ll use Spatial Transmission to send you out of the Empire. Remember to sprinkle some on yourself as you enter the Spatial Rift. The Shadow Concealing Dust will envelop you, so no one will see you when you emerge."
"Thank you for the trouble, Elder Mu." With that, Mu Chen slipped the Storage Ring onto his finger and, with a mere thought, established his Spiritual Mark on it.
Elder Mu said, "To save you time, I’ll use my longest-range Spatial Transmission. Tell me which direction you’re headed."
Mu Chen said, "Directly south."
Elder Mu nodded. "Alright. I don’t know the exact location my longest-range transmission will take you, but the direction will be correct. Are you ready?"
Mu Chen took a handful of iridescent powder from the Storage Ring and nodded. "Ready. Let’s begin."
A sharp glint suddenly flared in Elder Mu’s eyes. With a wave of his hand, an immense wave of Golden Primordial Power enveloped the entire Library Tower. "Open!"
At the low command, a golden Spatial Rift tore open in front of Mu Chen. His expression grew heavy at the sight of it. The Spatial Transmission he had endured back when he had no Primordial Power had left him with a bit of trauma. Still, with a furrow of his brow, he decisively sprinkled the Shadow Concealing Dust over his body, leaped into the rift, and vanished from the Library Tower in an instant.
Once he saw Mu Chen leap into the Spatial Rift, Elder Mu clenched his fists, and the rift snapped shut. Staring at the spot where Mu Chen had just stood, Elder Mu murmured, "That’s all I can do for you, kid. I’m eager to see how much you’ll have grown two years from now." With that, Elder Mu sat back down at his counter and drifted into a deep sleep...
Meanwhile, Mu Chen was experiencing a sense of weightlessness within a sea of gold. He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but this journey seemed to be taking an exceptionally long time—dozens of times longer than his last. Just as his head was starting to feel fuzzy, a bright exit finally appeared in the golden expanse.
Overjoyed, Mu Chen leaped and shot out of the rift. WHOOSH! A figure appeared high above a massive lake. Of course, this figure was completely invisible, as Mu Chen was still cloaked in the Shadow Concealing Dust.
After steadying himself, Mu Chen’s vision gradually sharpened. He took a deep breath and grumbled, ’I should really avoid Spatial Transmission in the future. It makes me feel dizzy every single time.’
Shaking his head, Mu Chen finally took a moment to quietly survey his surroundings. Below him was an enormous lake, spanning over ten thousand meters. It was completely encircled by dense forests, like a host of stars paying homage to the moon. The lake itself was shaped like a crescent, making it very distinctive. Mu Chen had a vague feeling he’d seen it somewhere before.
At that thought, Mu Chen called up the map his Master had given him in his mind’s eye. On the map, he was startled to find a region that looked remarkably similar, named: Moonlit Lake.
But when Mu Chen saw the distance between this region and the Xuanling Empire, he was utterly stunned. Based on the route, he had already covered a tenth of his entire journey. It was a testament to how terrifyingly powerful Elder Mu’s long-range transmission was. Gulping, Mu Chen gazed at the shimmering lake below and muttered to himself, ’Heavens, if I’d known it would be this far, I would’ve just asked Elder Mu to teleport me straight to my destination.’
He immediately dismissed the thought as soon as it surfaced. Thanks to the Shadow Concealing Dust, his form remained invisible. He picked a random spot on the shore and controlled his body to glide toward it, landing safely with a soft thud.
It was nearly dusk, and the lake’s surface shimmered with a reddish glow. Mu Chen smiled to himself. ’Since I’ve already covered a tenth of the distance, I might as well camp here for the night. I’ll get a good rest and hit the road bright and early tomorrow.’
With that thought, he sat down cross-legged on the spot. Probing his Storage Ring with a thread of Spiritual Power, he found that there was plenty of Demon Beast Meat, more than enough for his journey. Since there was nothing else to do, Mu Chen simply lay down on his side, began circulating his Extreme Spirit Chaos Technique, and quickly entered a state of Cultivation.
Focused on his Cultivation, Mu Chen was completely oblivious to the set of a woman’s white clothes laid out neatly beside him. There were even some undergarments visible among them...
After cultivating for two hours, Mu Chen finally emerged from his meditative state. The Primordial Power he had used to resist the weightlessness inside the Spatial Rift was now fully restored. By now, the sky had completely darkened. A slender crescent moon hung high in the sky, its cool light bathing the forest in a faint halo.
Mu Chen patted the dust from his clothes and quickly got to his feet. But at that exact moment, the distinct sound of splashing water came from behind him. Along with the splashing, he could faintly make out a woman’s voice.
"Ahh... The water is so clear. It’s been ages since I’ve had such a nice, relaxing bath..."
Hearing the voice, Mu Chen froze and instinctively turned around. The moment he did, his expression froze solid. Standing right before him was a young woman of breathtaking beauty.
The young woman snapped to her senses at the same instant. A scream that could pierce the heavens erupted from the shore, shattering the night’s tranquility. The shriek startled Mu Chen so badly that he forgot to turn away, and simply stared blankly at her.
The girl’s eyes blazed with fury as she shrieked, "You... pervert! Turn around, now!"
That snapped Mu Chen out of his daze. He stammered a few apologies and quickly spun around, thinking grimly, ’I’m so dead...’
The rustling of clothes came from behind him. After a long moment, Mu Chen suddenly felt a chill prick his back. On pure reflex, he stomped his foot, and with a flash of Thunder Light, his entire body shifted unnaturally to the side. At the very same moment, a longsword glinting with a cold light SHINKed through the air where he had just been standing.
Spinning around, Mu Chen was met with a pair of eyes brimming with tears. Below them, the young woman’s cheeks were flushed red with humiliation. He froze for a second before quickly holding up his hands. "Miss, please, let me explain! I..."
Mu Chen only got the word "I" halfway out. The young woman paid him no mind. With a flick of her wrist, her longsword traced an elegant flourish, stabbing toward him with astonishing Primordial Power.
Sensing the speed of her attack, Mu Chen’s expression turned grave. His eyes snapped open, revealing cold, merciless vertical purple pupils in the darkness. Six ice-blue snowflake-shaped sigils spun rapidly within them, and in his eyes, the young woman’s movements slowed by a factor of several dozen.
His body brushing against the Sword Blade, the Thunder Light at his feet flashed once more, and he shifted aside again, barely dodging the strike. In that single instant, Mu Chen got a clear look at the color and number of Martial Rings that had appeared at the young woman’s feet: nine dazzling blue Martial Rings!
’A Martial Sect! A Ninth-Ring Peak Martial Sect!’
Having her attacks dodged twice in a row left the young woman momentarily stunned. She turned to face Mu Chen, a flicker of surprise crossing her cold, proud features.
Seizing the opportunity, Mu Chen said in a low, serious voice, "Miss, please, listen to me! I was just passing through and stopped here to cultivate for a while. I didn’t notice you were in the lake... er... bathing. But I swear, I had absolutely no intention of spying on you."
The young woman snorted coldly. "You saw what you saw. Are you not even man enough to admit it? You’re just a pervert! Today, I shall enact justice on heaven’s behalf and eliminate a hypocrite like you so you can never harm another woman again."
With that, the cold and proud young woman angled her blade. A sharp aura erupted from her with a POOM, and she swung her sword, slashing down at Mu Chen...
