We Have Become Public Enemies

“You really are something, kid. You were right. I said I would use my full strength to kill you just now, but I decided it wasn’t necessary. If I had truly used all my strength, even the Grand Elder wouldn’t have been able to withstand my attack.”

An Ce stood with his hands behind his back, smiling at Xu Mu. “You may take these two outsiders from the Heavenly Demon Tribe with you. Grand Elder, you have no objections, do you?”

“No. If even the Patriarch couldn’t handle him, then I certainly can’t either. It would indeed be a terrible loss to sacrifice even more Boundary-Breaking experts for the sake of two people at the first level of the Boundary-Breaking Realm.”

Hong Jingshan lowered his head slightly.

In any case, An Ce had been unable to do anything about Xu Mu, and the elders surrounding them certainly wouldn’t look down on him as Grand Elder because of it.

“Good. Since the Grand Elder has no objections, Xu Mu, for your sake, we won’t force these two women to join us.”

An Ce spoke calmly. “However, even if they don’t join us, we can still establish a cooperative relationship.”

Fu Jinyu had already come to Xu Mu’s side. She said coldly, “There’s no need for us to cooperate with you. Those who follow different paths cannot make common cause!”

“You can’t put it that way. For example, the inheritance of your Heavenly Demon Tribe in the outside world has more or less been severed, hasn’t it?”

An Ce smiled at Fu Jinyu. “But here in the inner world, much of our inheritance has been preserved intact. If we work together, and you serve us in the future, we can pass that inheritance on to you.”

Fu Jinyu’s eyes narrowed at once. This temptation was indeed enormous for her.

She had heard her father say years ago that much of the Heavenly Demon Tribe’s inheritance had already been lost.

Too many experts had died in the battles of the past.

Take cultivation techniques, for example. Only a very small number of people could master them completely, because everyone had a limited amount of time and energy.

Some people were suited to defensive techniques, so they needed to temper their bodies day and night.

Others were suited to offensive techniques, which meant they could only continue fighting and honing their skills.

Thus, in most cases, different cultivation techniques were passed down separately.

If a race had an abundance of talented people and could continue prospering from one generation to the next, these problems naturally wouldn’t exist.

But if a race was constantly embroiled in war—for instance, if those who cultivated defensive techniques survived while those who cultivated offensive techniques perished—then the offensive techniques could easily be lost.

“The Heavenly Demon Tribe in the inner world has also endured several devastating wars,” An Ce continued. “But our Supreme Elder is still alive. He preserved many of our inherited techniques, ensuring they didn’t fall into the hands of others.”

“Of course, I’m only making a suggestion. If you don’t want to cooperate, I won’t force you.”

“What would you normally ask me to do if I cooperated with you?”

Nalan Shisan suddenly spoke up.

She was tempted as well. Who wouldn’t want to obtain top-tier cultivation techniques suited to them?

“There would be plenty of things. If some ruins appeared, you could go in and fight for the treasures. Or, if someone attacked one of our people, we would naturally send someone to uphold justice and settle the score.”

An Ce looked at Nalan Shisan. “Our tribe isn’t very large. In terms of population, we rank only somewhere in the middle among all the races in the inner world. Naturally, we need to stand together more closely.”

“Senior, there’s something I’m not sure whether I should ask.”

Xu Mu suddenly smiled.

“If you have something to say, then say it. Naturally, I won’t tell you anything you shouldn’t ask about.”

An Ce looked at Xu Mu.

“I heard before that the Heavenly Demon Tribe was considered one of the first-rate races. Why did you decline to this point? What exactly happened to you?”

Xu Mu voiced the question that had been troubling him.

“Hahaha! As expected of someone from the outside world—you really don’t understand anything.”

An Ce looked toward Fu Jinyu. “Do you know the reason?”

Fu Jinyu shook her head slightly. “I know nothing about the Heavenly Demon Tribe in the inner world. This is my first time entering the inner world.”

“It seems our Ancestor’s plan succeeded after all.”

An Ce waved to the elders around them. “Everyone, withdraw. The rest of you, come with me.”

Before leaving, Xu Mu took out a healing pill and handed it to Wu Kui. “Eat this. It’s a high-grade one.”

Wu Kui glanced at the pill and swallowed it in one gulp. With the Patriarch right there, Xu Mu clearly wouldn’t dare do anything to him.

As soon as Wu Kui took the pill, he felt a wave of heat surge through his body, all of it gathering around his wounds.

The wounds that had been throbbing with pain suddenly became warm and soothing, and the pain vanished in the blink of an eye.

By then, Xu Mu had already set off with Fu Jinyu and Nalan Shisan, following An Ce deeper into the mountains.

The many elders there withdrew as well.

Hua Die breathed a sigh of relief. No matter what, Xu Mu and the others had managed to survive.

Hua Xu, meanwhile, smiled and lightly tapped Hua Die on the head. “Girl, surviving a disaster means good fortune is sure to follow. I have a feeling your luck has arrived.”

“Father? What kind of luck?”

Hua Die looked at him in confusion.

“Your good fortune is Xu Mu. Though he saved you, you also did quite a lot for him this time. Spend more time with him in the future.”

Hua Xu couldn’t help smiling. The Xu Mu before him was simply terrifying. If he entered the Boundary-Breaking Realm, no one could say how powerful his true combat strength would become.

…

In front of a cave in the rear mountains stood a tree stump that had been cut flat.

Several small stools had been placed around it.

An Ce sat down on one of the stools and gestured for the others to sit.

The moment Fu Jinyu sat down, she asked impatiently, “What did you mean just now? I don’t understand.”

Xu Mu and Nalan Shisan pricked up their ears as well.

An Ce first glanced at Xu Mu, then took a jar of wine from his spatial ring.

“I’ll answer your question first. You asked why we declined. It’s very simple—we became public enemies.”

“Public enemies?”

Xu Mu and the others all frowned.

“You should know about the Great Wilderness Tribe, right? They once showed our tribe great kindness. That’s why, during the war between the myriad races, our Heavenly Demon Tribe stood on the same side as the Great Wilderness Tribe.”

After saying this, An Ce raised his head and took a drink of wine.

Only then did Xu Mu suddenly understand. He had once heard someone say in a restaurant that anyone connected to the Great Wilderness Tribe would become an enemy of all the major races in the inner world.

Since the Heavenly Demon Tribe had allied itself with the Great Wilderness Tribe, it had naturally become the target of everyone’s hostility after the Great Wilderness Tribe was defeated.

“You said that our Ancestor’s plan succeeded. What did you mean?”

Fu Jinyu asked.

“Anyone with even a little sense would know that you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket.”

At this point, An Ce looked at Xu Mu again. “Of all the history of your Yanhuang civilization, the period I’m most familiar with is the Three Kingdoms era. The Zhuge family did exactly that.”

Xu Mu nodded inwardly. That was indeed the case.

The eldest brother, Zhuge Jin, was a core strategist of Eastern Wu and rose to become its Grand General.

The second brother, Zhuge Liang, served as the Chancellor of Shu-Han.

Their cousin, Zhuge Dan, became a Grand General of Cao Wei.

“We were the same. The Great Wilderness Tribe had shown us kindness, but our entire race couldn’t risk everything on them. What if the Great Wilderness Tribe lost?”

An Ce paused. “So, our Ancestor decided that his second son would take his blood relatives and one-quarter of the tribe’s experts to live in the outside world.”

Fu Jinyu nodded inwardly. She had never imagined that her own ancestral line had originated this way.

“What exactly happened to the Great Wilderness Tribe? You aren’t still allied with them, are you?”

Xu Mu remembered the young woman who had sacrificed herself to save him.

He remembered her saying that her master liked him.