Meeting an Acquaintance at the Ruins

Xu Mu clicked to check it, and a flood of memories flowed into his mind as if he had known it all along.

After a careful study, a smile appeared on Xu Mu's face.

This cultivation technique was quite good—simple and direct, which was exactly what he needed right now.

Simply put, the primary offensive means of the Heaven-Burning Sword Art had nothing to do with the sword itself, but rather the Heaven-Burning Qi.

This Qi was incredibly powerful. It could be attached to sword energy, wrap around the blade, or even cloak his entire body.

It was safe to say that this technique was the absolute nemesis of Ye Chen's Dragon Scales.

After Ye Chen entered the Grandmaster realm, among experts of the same level, only Earth-tier techniques could affect the dragon scales on his body.

But Xu Mu only needed to coat the surface of his longsword with the Heaven-Burning Qi, and every strike would carry the might of a Heaven-tier technique.

Ye Chen's defenses would naturally be rendered useless in front of Xu Mu.

The guaranteed rewards this time were abundant. With three consecutive ten-pulls, Xu Mu gained 540 Cultivation Points.

As for Attribute Points, he gained 260.

He allocated all these points, feeling the Qi within his body begin to surge as his physique was further strengthened.

He checked his current status panel.

Name: Xu Mu

Identity: Ultimate Villain Body, HR Manager of the Xu Group

Realm: Early-stage Grandmaster

Physique: 1405

Spirit: 1405

Cultivation Points: 730 (Max 1600)

Power of Destiny: 1052

Xu Mu smiled. Not bad. At this rate, he would soon reach the mid-stage of the Grandmaster realm.

Once he reached that stage, Xu Mu planned to make another attempt on Ye Chen's life.

Of course, if Ye Chen was waiting for him at the ruins this time, he would see if he could finish him off right there.

"Ye Tong, the tables have turned!"

Xu Mu suddenly went on the offensive.

...

Early the next morning.

Xu Mu woke up early. After a simple breakfast, he gave Meng Wanyue a call.

Before long, Meng Wanyue pulled up to Xu Mu's villa in a Wuling Hongguang.

Stepping out of the car, she found Xu Mu waiting for her in the courtyard.

"Brother Mu."

Meng Wanyue pushed the gate open and walked in. "Have you decided to go today?"

"Yeah, I found another expert."

Xu Mu smiled and asked, "Have you come up with a good excuse on your end? If I go with you, Ye Chen is definitely going to ask how you managed to trick me into coming along."

"This..."

Meng Wanyue looked down, deep in thought.

"Pretend I'm Ye Chen for a second. Let me ask you."

Xu Mu looked at Meng Wanyue and said, "Wanyue, how did you trick Xu Mu into going to the ruins?"

"He... just so happened to ask me if I knew of any ruins, so I told him about this one."

Meng Wanyue glanced up at Xu Mu.

"You can't use that excuse."

Xu Mu shook his head gently.

"Why?"

"If I asked you about the ruins, you told me about them, and then someone just happened to be there waiting to kill me when we arrived... By that logic, I would definitely suspect you."

Xu Mu patted Meng Wanyue's shoulder. "If this mission fails and you're still able to stay safely by my side, Ye Chen will start doubting our relationship."

Meng Wanyue thought about it carefully and realized he was right. "Then what excuse should I use?"

"Pin it on Xiao Ran. Just tell him that Xiao Ran was the one who told you about the ruins. That way, I'll suspect Xiao Ran instead of you, and you can continue staying by my side."

Xu Mu suggested after a moment of thought.

"Okay, I understand. I'll give Ye Chen a call right now."

Meng Wanyue took out her phone and dialed a number.

About ten seconds later, Ye Chen's voice came through the line. "Speak."

"Dragon King, Xu Mu has agreed to go to the ruins with me. We're setting off right away."

Meng Wanyue spoke into the phone.

"That fast? What did you tell him?"

Ye Chen asked curiously from the other end.

"He just so happened to ask me this morning if I knew of any ruins, saying he wanted to hunt for treasures. I told him that Sister Ran actually mentioned a ruin to me a few days ago, but I wasn't sure if the treasures inside had already been taken. Xu Mu then said he wanted to go check it out."

Meng Wanyue relayed the excuse Xu Mu had just fed her to Ye Chen.

"I see! Got it. Don't blow your cover. Just accompany him there for now."

Ye Chen said. "I need to get ready on my end right away."

With that, Ye Chen hung up the phone.

Xu Mu smiled and gave her a thumbs-up. "Nice work. Let's head out then."

"Should we bring Dai Xingluo along?"

Meng Wanyue asked.

"No need. It's too dangerous this time. The fewer people we have, the better."

Xu Mu drove his own Cadillac Escalade and headed toward the Spring Breeze Hotel.

Before arriving, he had already sent a message to Fu Jinyu.

By the time they pulled up to the hotel entrance, Fu Jinyu and Hongyu were already waiting outside.

The two of them were dressed the same as yesterday, wearing simple casual clothes and sunglasses.

The staggering bounce of Fu Jinyu's curves drew the stares of almost everyone entering and leaving the hotel.

Their eyes were somewhat difficult to conceal, much like the eyes of someone from the Jiuli tribe, like Miao He.

If only the irises were red, simply wearing black contact lenses would do the trick.

But for their Heavenly Demon Tribe, not only were their irises a different color, but their scleras—the whites of their eyes—were completely black. You couldn't exactly find contact lenses large enough to cover that on the regular market.

Xu Mu rolled down the window and waved them over, and the two women hopped into the car.

...

Meng Wanyue took the wheel for the drive to the ruins.

Xu Mu sat in the passenger seat, while Fu Jinyu and Hongyu settled into the back.

The location of the ruins this time was to the north of Jiangbei, a journey of a little over two hours.

After getting off the highway, they navigated a stretch of mountain roads for another twenty minutes before arriving at their destination.

It was a small county town. Meng Wanyue parked the car in an open-air parking lot on the outskirts of town.

After getting out of the car, the group followed Meng Wanyue toward a mountain peak outside the town.

Atop the mountain sat an abandoned village, with most of its surrounding buildings already collapsed into ruins.

Checking the map on her phone, Meng Wanyue led the group into an abandoned ancestral hall.

Inside, there was a well.

"Brother Mu, this is the place,"

Meng Wanyue said, pointing at the well.

"I'll go down first and take a look."

Xu Mu jumped straight down. He found that the well wasn't particularly deep—only about ten meters or so.

Upon reaching the bottom, he noticed a passageway off to the side.

"Come on down!"

Xu Mu called out to the experts above.

Meng Wanyue and Fu Jinyu followed suit, dropping down into the well.

Fu Jinyu was just about to head into the cave when she realized Hongyu hadn't come down yet. She looked up and called out, "Hongyu! What's taking you so long?"

Through his perception, Xu Mu immediately sensed that Hongyu was up above, using her phone to send their location to someone.

"Coming!"

Hongyu replied, quickly stuffing her phone into her pocket.

Xu Mu watched as Hongyu dropped down. A faint smile touched his lips, but he didn't expose her.

The group followed the passageway, walking straight ahead until they finally entered the ruins.

They found themselves in another mountain range, but deep within it stood a massive stone structure.

The stone structure resembled a pyramid, except its top was flat.

Fu Jinyu surveyed their surroundings, the corners of her lips curling up slightly. "Judging by the surrounding trees, which are still growing perfectly fine, there haven't been any battles here. If I'm not mistaken, very few people have entered this place. There might actually be some treasures."

"Then let's..."

Xu Mu started to say, but then raised an eyebrow. "You've got to be kidding me. Looks like we've run into some familiar faces."

Those people in the distance were definitely not brought here by Ye Chen.

"How did you know there was an acquaintance around?"

Fu Jinyu looked at Xu Mu.

"Because I caught the scent of a non-human."

Xu Mu said, touching his nose.