Xiao Gui Appears

Xu Mu asked, “Is there some secret?”

“The Xiao Clan seems to have found an ancient battlefield of the gods. They’re preparing to head there soon,” Chen Xuan explained. “The treasures there are of extremely high quality.”

“An ancient battlefield of the gods? What kind of place is that?” Xu Mu asked, puzzled.

“I only just heard about it myself. To put it simply, before the Inner Realm was shattered, spiritual energy was incredibly dense. Quite a few people broke through beyond the ninth rank and ascended to immortality.”

Chen Xuan continued, “The various races were constantly at war with one another, and in the end, their battles caused the Inner Realm to shatter. The place where those battles took place is known as the ancient battlefield of the gods.”

“I see.”

Xu Mu nodded to himself.

In other words, the ancient battlefield of the gods was a region left behind by experts who had surpassed the Boundary-Breaking Realm after their battles.

“That era was known as the Dark Age. Countless races schemed to destroy one another, stopping at nothing to achieve their goals. The most common method was to use the corpses of immortals to create divine artifacts,” Chen Xuan said. “A battlefield of the gods generally has a fairly high chance of containing divine artifacts.”

Xu Mu stroked his chin thoughtfully. “It really is far more impressive than the ancient battlefields on our side.”

“The ancient battlefields came later. After the Inner Realm shattered, its fragments came into contact with the outside world, and the foreign races from the Inner Realm entered it.”

Chen Xuan paused before continuing, “The foreign races suffered heavy losses at the time, so they decided to recruit people from the outside world to help them fight. They taught them cultivation, and things eventually evolved into this: the foreign races became the players, while the people from the outside world became their pawns. They watched us slaughter one another for their amusement.”

“And then our ancestors couldn’t stand by and watch?” Xu Mu asked with a smile.

“That’s right. Our ancestors began to resist and went to war with the foreign races. The battles from that period became known as the ancient battlefields.”

Chen Xuan nodded. “That’s what I’ve managed to learn so far, though I don’t know how much of it is true.”

“There’s no need to worry about that. As we grow stronger, the truth will eventually come to light.”

Xu Mu looked at Chen Xuan. “You should head back. You can’t stay here too long. Otherwise, it’ll be difficult to explain why you don’t have any injuries.”

“Understood! I’ll notify you if I hear anything. You’re staying in the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan’s royal city for now, right?” Chen Xuan asked before leaving.

“Yes. I’ll definitely be here for the next few days.”

Xu Mu agreed. After all, he had already made plans with Qin Tsukimi of the Amaterasu Clan to meet here.

“You need to be careful. I heard that Li Han is extremely vengeful. After you let him return this time, he’ll definitely send even stronger experts after you. But we can’t kill him yet—I’m still counting on him to promote me.”

Chen Xuan shook his head slightly.

“Don’t worry. I’m pretty good at running away.”

Xu Mu wore a relaxed expression.

“That’s good, then.”

Chen Xuan immediately turned around and ran into the distance.

Xu Mu also turned around and saw Ying Weiyang approaching from afar.

She was holding several spatial rings. “I picked these up from the two men just now, as well as from the others earlier.”

“You really know how to make the most of things.”

Xu Mu took the rings and gave them a cursory glance. There was nothing particularly valuable inside.

He casually tossed the rings into his storage space, keeping only one attractive, pure-white ring. He handed it to Ying Weiyang. “Here, you can have this one. You didn’t have one before, did you?”

“Thank you.”

Ying Weiyang accepted the ring and grinned. “I had my eye on this one just now.”

[Affection +8]

Once everything here was settled, Xu Mu returned to the royal city.

He and Ying Weiyang strolled through the streets before eventually returning to the shop that sold armor.

Only a few hours had passed since their earlier visit, so the middle-aged man naturally remembered them—especially the young woman who traveled with them.

With her golden hair and golden eyes, and skin as fair as snow, she still looked like a girl, yet she already possessed breathtaking beauty.

“Hahaha! Welcome, customers. What can I do for you?” the middle-aged man asked with a beaming smile.

Xu Mu used the Divine Eye to inspect him.

Name: Shi Qi

Identity: Armor shopkeeper in the royal city of the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan; guest of the Light Clan

Affection: 0

Destiny Level: 3 (Maximum Level: 10)

Xu Mu was astonished. So this man was a guest of the Light Clan. No wonder they were considered a top-tier race.

Perhaps every race had planted spies among the others.

“The information you gave me is common knowledge. Don’t you think you should refund me?” Xu Mu said as he sat down in a nearby chair.

“No matter how you look at it, it was still information. Even if you’d asked someone else, wouldn’t you have had to offer them some compensation?” Shi Qi closed his book. “There’s no way I’m refunding you.”

“Then you charged far too much. You demanded two hundred jin of spirit stones right off the bat. That was a scam.”

“How was it a scam if I didn’t succeed?” Shi Qi shrugged. “I didn’t lie to you. The information I gave you was true.”

“Forget it. I can’t be bothered to argue with you. Get this girl a suit of armor that fits, and we’ll call it even.”

Xu Mu crossed one leg over the other. “Otherwise…”

“Otherwise what? You’ll smash up my shop?”

Shi Qi revealed a faint smile, completely unconcerned.

“You’re a guest of another race who infiltrated the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan, and you’ve even managed to establish contact with their Boundary-Breaking experts. That must have cost you quite a lot.”

Xu Mu folded his arms.

Shi Qi’s expression suddenly changed, but he quickly forced another smile. “I don’t understand what you’re talking about. I’m just an ordinary mixed-blood from the Inner Realm.”

“You’re a guest of the Light Clan.”

Xu Mu got straight to the point. “I named the exact race you belong to. Do you really think I’d say that without evidence?”

Shi Qi was stunned at first, then gave a bitter laugh. “How did you find out?”

“I don’t know. Let’s just pick out a few suits of armor, and I’ll know nothing about your affairs.”

Xu Mu rose from his chair and looked toward Ying Weiyang. “Go ahead and choose.”

“Didn’t you say one suit just now?”

Shi Qi was somewhat helpless. He had no idea where he had exposed himself, so he could only accept his loss this time.

“Stop wasting time, or I’ll shut down your shop.”

Xu Mu’s tone was indifferent.

“That leather one looks nice. That skirt armor too. And that full-steel set.”

Ying Weiyang selected the items without the slightest hesitation.

“Good. We’ll take these three.”

Xu Mu waved his hand lightly, and the suits of armor hanging on the wall flew down and landed beside him.

Ying Weiyang first tried on the battle-skirt armor. It was styled like a dress, but the skirt was made of metal links and covered with metal plates.

She spun around once after putting it on and nodded in satisfaction.

[Affection +10]

“Xu Mu, you’re so good to me,” Ying Weiyang said with a smile.

“You’re traveling with me now, so of course your equipment has to be up to standard.”

Xu Mu had decided to improve his relationship with Ying Weiyang. When the right opportunity arose, he would restore her memories.

Regardless of who she had been before, she certainly wouldn’t forget the time she had spent with him. She would owe him a huge favor for it.

“Boss, we’re leaving.”

Xu Mu left with Ying Weiyang.

They continued farther into the city and stopped in front of a fairly large wooden building.

It was an inn. Through his perception, Xu Mu could see the orphanage and the entrance to the ruins.

After renting a room, Xu Mu and Ying Weiyang went up to the second floor together.

The facilities here were nothing like those in the outside world. The room contained only a single bed, with barely enough space to stand.

Ying Weiyang jumped onto the bed and continued twirling, making her skirt billow.

Xu Mu shook his head slightly and activated his perception. To his surprise, he discovered that Tushan Rui had emerged from the ruins and was heading toward the orphanage.

It was clear from his eyes that he was in a good mood.

Just then, a golden light appeared in the sky.

A man in a coat appeared before Tushan Rui, carrying a little girl in his arms.

“Mommy!”

The moment Xiao Qiao saw Tushan Rui, she cried out excitedly.