Chapter 1347: Chapter 697: Senior_2
"Brother, there’s a street performance over there!"
Before Mu Feng could react, Mu Xi had already slipped into the crowd like a nimble deer.
Mu Feng hurriedly followed, afraid his sister might get lost.
He was five years older than Mu Xi. Since their parents perished in a beast tide, he had been raising his sister alone.
This time, he brought her to Luoyun City intending to sell the family heirloom, "Qingming Jade," to purchase winter supplies for the tribe.
However, Mu Xi’s fascination with the city left him both tender-hearted and worried.
"Make way, make way!"
Mu Xi agilely got to the front row, looking up at the performer who was spitting fire.
The performer took a swig of liquor, waved a torch in his hand, and suddenly a Fire Dragon soared, illuminating half the street.
"Wow—" Mu Xi exclaimed, clapping so hard her hands turned red.
Mu Feng stood behind her, his gaze warily scanning the surroundings.
He noticed several richly dressed cultivators in the crowd eyeing the excited Mu Xi maliciously, their expressions akin to wolves eyeing lambs.
Mu Feng instinctively touched the short knife at his waist, the only relic left by his father.
"Mu Xi, it’s about time. We should head back."
Mu Feng urged softly.
"Just a little longer!"
Mu Xi didn’t turn her head, completely absorbed by the performance.
"Look, that person can swallow swords!"
Just as Mu Feng was about to forcibly take his sister away, Mu Xi suddenly turned to share her excitement with her brother, accidentally bumping into a passing man in a black robe.
"Ah! Sorry!"
Mu Xi quickly apologized, looking up into a pair of cold, sinister eyes.
The man appeared to be around thirty, his face pale to the point of sickliness, yet a strange smile played at the corners of his mouth.
He reached out to steady Mu Xi, a grip so firm it made her frown slightly.
"Little girl, be careful while walking."
The man’s voice rasped like sandpaper, as he whispered softly in Mu Xi’s ear.
"Such a beautiful girl, it would be a shame if she got hurt."
Mu Feng swiftly stepped forward, pulling his sister behind him.
"My sister was reckless, please forgive her."
The man squinted at Mu Feng, suddenly smiling with a mouth of uneven teeth.
"No problem, no problem. Luoyun City isn’t quite safe lately, take care of your sister."
After speaking, he glanced meaningfully at Mu Xi, then turned and disappeared into the crowd.
"Brother, that person was so weird..."
Mu Xi muttered in a low voice, involuntarily rubbing the goosebumps that had risen on her arms.
Mu Feng’s brow furrowed tightly.
"We’re leaving right away."
This time, Mu Xi did not object.
The siblings left the bustling streets in haste, heading toward the inn.
Mu Feng kept feeling like they were being watched, but each time he looked back, all he saw was the endless flow of people.
Meanwhile, in the most luxurious "Cloud Perch Pavilion" inn in the city, in room number three on the top floor, Gu Sheng sat cross-legged on a bed crafted from violet sandalwood.
Before him hovered seven Top-grade Spirit Stones, arranged according to the positions of the Big Dipper, forming a small Spirit Gathering Array.
Pale green Spiritual Energy wafted through the array like thin mist, slowly permeating into Gu Sheng’s body.
"Still too slow."
Gu Sheng opened his eyes, his pitch-black pupils carrying a golden gleam.
He gestured to change positions, and the array’s rotation speed abruptly increased, with Spiritual Energy converging into visible fine streams, inexplicably not spilling outward.
If other cultivators witnessed this scene, they would be dumbfounded.
Ordinarily when Earth Palace cultivators practice, spiritual energy fluctuations would at least spread to a ten-foot radius, but Gu Sheng could perfectly control it within a three-foot range.
This not only required precise control of Spiritual Power, but also revealed that the cultivation technique he practiced was extraordinary.
Gu Sheng felt the circulation of Spiritual Power within him; he had thoroughly memorized the route of operation for the Second Realm of the Nine Dragon Heaven and Earth Technique.
This technique, obtained from Ancient Ruins, consisted of nine layers, each advancement requiring vast amounts of Spiritual Energy and an understanding of Heaven and Earth Laws.
Currently, he had been stuck at the Peak of the Second Realm for half a year, unable to find an opportunity for breakthrough.
"The Spiritual Energy concentration in Luoyun City is still too low."
Gu Sheng sighed lightly, putting away the Spirit Gathering Array.
He dared not fully exercise his cultivation technique for fear of alerting potential hidden experts in the city.
Especially the City Lord, who was rumored to have reached the later stage of the Heavenly Palace. If he detected anything special about Gu Sheng’s cultivation technique, it might cause unnecessary trouble.
Gu Sheng’s gaze fell on the ancient, copper bell placed at the bedside.
The surface of the bell was covered in fine cracks and blurred runes, looking like a common antique that could shatter at any time.
But Gu Sheng knew that the Ancient Reincarnation Bell was of extraordinary origin.
Three years ago, when he obtained the bell from an ancient tomb, it was covered in thick copper rust and showed no sign of spiritual energy.
Only during an accident when Gu Sheng’s blood dripped onto the bell did it activate the first seal.
From then onward, the ancient bell began emitting a chilling Yin Qi, allowing him to cultivate the Nine Dragon Heaven and Earth Technique to the second level within a year.
Now, the cracks on the surface of the ancient bell’s second seal were gradually widening, with strands of Yang Qi seeping through, intertwining with the original Yin Qi, forming a delicate balance.
Gu Sheng carefully picked up the ancient bell, feeling the icy and fiery sensation at his fingertips.
He infused Spiritual Power, causing the bell to vibrate slightly, emitting a low humming sound.
The Yang Qi from the cracks intensified, forming a golden mist above the bell’s opening.
"Indeed..."
Gu Sheng’s eyes shone with delight.
"The second seal has begun to loosen."
He closed his eyes, his Divine Sense probing into the ancient bell’s interior. In a chaotic space, four huge Rune Lock Chains spanned the Void, with the first one completely broken and the second showing obvious cracks.
Whenever Yang Qi seeped through the cracks, it was accompanied by some fragmented Law Fragments.
Gu Sheng’s Divine Sense caught one fragment, and immediately a strange image unfolded in his mind.
In the vast cosmos, nine great suns illuminated the sky, filling the world with endless light and heat. An unfathomable insight surged within him, imparting a brand new understanding of the "Yang" Dao.
"Is this... the source Law of Yang Dao?"
Gu Sheng opened his eyes in shock.
He never expected an ordinary-looking ancient bell to contain such profound Daoist Technique.
It should be known that in the Cultivation World, treasures that can directly interact with Heaven and Earth Laws are all of the level of Sect’s Treasure among major sects.
"Boom!"
A thunderous roar erupted like a clap of thunder, jolting Gu Sheng awake from his Enlightenment state.
The Ancient Reincarnation Bell hovered three inches above his palm, with the gold Yang Qi slithering like serpents, but it suddenly became chaotic with the sound waves.
"Courting death!"
Gu Sheng’s eyes flashed dangerously as he hastily put away the ancient bell.
His Divine Sense swept across, immediately perceiving the chaotic Spiritual Power fluctuations and the sound of fighting outside the corridor.
One angry voice was particularly familiar — it was the voice of the mountain youth he had encountered an hour earlier downstairs.
The door was hit with great force, the entire wall trembling.
Gu Sheng coldly rose to check, but suddenly there was a "bang," as two bodies fiercely collided with the door, deforming the iron doorframe.
"Get lost!"
Gu Sheng shouted lowly, kicking hard.
With a "snap," the entire door blasted off, taking the two people outside along with it, crashing heavily against the wall on the opposite corridor, splintering wood everywhere.
The two men in brocade robes spat blood, falling to the ground like ragged bags, knocked unconscious.
The sounds of fighting in the corridor ceased.
Gu Sheng walked out of the room with his hands behind his back, his gaze sharp as a knife sweeping across the scene.
He saw more than ten richly dressed youths forming a semicircle at the end of the corridor, besieging the siblings from the Qinghai Tribe.
Mu Xi curled up in the corner, her usually lively eyes now full of fear, with five swollen red finger marks imprinted on her pale cheek, and blood on the corner of her mouth.
Her brother Mu Feng was in worse condition, his chest soaked in blood, his right arm unnaturally twisted, yet he stubbornly shielded his sister.
"Se...Senior?"
Mu Feng recognized Gu Sheng, his eyes of despair carrying a glimmer of hope, but it soon dimmed.
