Return with a Great Victory

"Is that so? Logically speaking, what this array manifests should be exactly what lies deep within one's heart."

Xu Mu looked at Chen Xuan in confusion.

"That's exactly it. I've always wanted my senior sister to be the way I imagined, but she simply isn't that kind of person."

Chen Xuan explained with a smile, "When the senior sister in the array showed the exact personality I had imagined, I knew right then that everything was fake."

Xu Mu smiled and shook his head. In his opinion, it wasn't that profound. As the male lead, Chen Xuan's stats were simply far beyond those of ordinary people.

For example, his mental strength was much higher than Tong Guoguo's, which was why he could remain lucid within the array.

As for Xu Mu, his mental strength was even more formidable—several times that of Chen Xuan's. This kind of mental attack had absolutely no effect on him.

"Let's go. If nothing unexpected happens, the treasure should be just ahead."

Xu Mu said, looking into the distance.

The few people beside him nodded in agreement and headed together toward the deepest part.

After crossing another low hill, they saw a massive cave. However, the entrance was blocked by a large black door.

On the outer perimeter of the door, there were two tall stone statues on both the left and right sides.

The statues were about two meters tall, and each one looked completely different.

As they approached, the statues suddenly erupted with terrifying power. The stone covering their bodies shattered into pieces.

Then, the pieces scattered across the ground, revealing the black armor hidden inside.

Buzz!

Four soldiers clad in black armor, with red light glowing from their eyes, sprang into action simultaneously the next moment, charging straight at Xu Mu and the others.

Xu Mu first cast Demonic Guardian but found it useless. He immediately deployed a concealment array, but it still couldn't stop them.

"Out of tricks? Then let's fight!"

Tong Guoguo leaped into the air and threw a punch.

One of the armored soldiers also threw a punch in response.

Boom!

A loud explosion echoed through the air. Tong Guoguo was sent flying backward on the spot, crashing into a distant hillside.

But the next moment, Tong Guoguo immediately scrambled up and charged back toward them.

Meanwhile, the remaining three soldiers launched their own attacks against Xu Mu and the others.

Rumble!

Violent tremors continuously shook the area.

Xu Mu and Chen Xuan were also sent flying.

"Damn! What incredible strength."

Chen Xuan gently shook his wrist, feeling like he could barely maintain his grip on his woodchopping knife.

Jin Mo, on the other hand, held a longsword and skillfully deflected the incoming force.

Swish!

He charged at the armored soldiers once again.

Facing the armored soldiers' punches, Jin Mo always managed to dodge them perfectly—a slight tilt of the head, a slight sidestep, a slight retreat.

While evading the attacks, he remained closely glued to his opponents' bodies.

For the unavoidable attacks, he would rotate his wrist and use his longsword to deflect the force.

If one had to use a single word to describe Jin Mo's fighting style, it would be elegant.

In this man, Xu Mu saw the shadow of his own God of Assassins persona.

Those who could reach this level were mostly people with an exceptionally formidable understanding of combat.

Watching this fighting style, Xu Mu sighed in admiration inwardly. Truly worthy of being Ye Chen's strongest subordinate in the later stages.

It was only because the opponents were dummies incapable of feeling emotions.

If they were real people, fighting someone like Jin Mo would probably cause their mentality to collapse in no time.

Having the opponent constantly sticking close, impossible to hit, would bring an unavoidable amount of pressure.

After fighting for a while, Jin Mo figured out their combat patterns.

Slash!

Jin Mo slashed his sword at an armored soldier's knee.

He dodged the damage once more and then continued his assault.

In the end, the battle turned into a completely one-sided affair, even though the armored soldiers were clearly much stronger than Jin Mo.

Yet, the flow of the battle was the exact opposite.

"Holy crap! As expected of the Third Captain. Brother Mu, Lao Jin is really fierce too."

Chen Xuan said as he fought.

Xu Mu nodded slightly. "Indeed."

Boom!

With a loud bang, Tong Guoguo shattered one of the armored soldiers' heads with a single punch.

The soldier immediately turned into a pile of stones and collapsed on the ground, dropping a key from its body.

Seeing this, Tong Guoguo immediately crouched down and picked up the key.

"Of course, Sister Guo is even fiercer."

Chen Xuan exclaimed upon seeing this.

"The strength of these soldiers is roughly at the first stage of the Realm-Breaking level. However, their attacks are quite formulaic—high offense, low defense. They're relatively easy to deal with."

As Tong Guoguo spoke, she came over to help Xu Mu.

Working together, the two shattered another armored soldier.

As for Jin Mo, he had already severed one of the armored soldiers' legs.

The armored soldier kept rolling on the ground, completely unable to stand up.

Xu Mu fired off a few blasts of Heaven-Burning Sword Qi, completely shattering it.

The armored soldier fighting Chen Xuan was likewise dealt with by their combined efforts.

In the end, all four armored soldiers were destroyed, yielding a total of four keys.

Just as they obtained the keys, they noticed Miao Qing coming down from a distant hillside.

"You came at the perfect time. Our battle here just ended."

Xu Mu turned his head and smiled at Miao Qing.

Afterward, the group walked toward the cave ahead. At the four corners of the large door, there were four small holes.

They were the exact shape of the keys in their hands. They each inserted a key, and array patterns appeared on the door before it vanished completely.

As soon as Xu Mu and the others stepped into the cave, they were captivated by the dazzling array of items inside.

Miao Qing followed in their footsteps and entered the cave.

When she saw what was in front of her, her face instantly turned deathly pale.

There were mountains of spirit stones and all sorts of weapons.

Many heavenly materials and earthly treasures had completely dried up and rotted away, and from those withered treasures, new tender sprouts were emerging.

Yet, upon seeing so many treasures, Miao Qing wasn't happy at all; instead, she became extremely nervous.

With so many treasures, a ten percent share would be an astonishing amount.

If there weren't many items, it would be easy to handle. But when there was this much, things could easily go wrong.

For example, if they were looking for gold, Xu Mu promised her a ten percent cut.

If the gold was only worth ten thousand, giving her one thousand wouldn't bother Xu Mu.

But if the gold was worth a hundred million, he would have to give her ten million.

That amount was an entirely different story.

"So many treasures, just sitting here gathering dust. Some heavenly materials and earthly treasures that couldn't be preserved for long have all rotted away. What a pity."

Xu Mu walked deeper inside, looking around.

"These weapons should be pretty good."

Chen Xuan approached the armory section. "Too bad the woodchopping knife Master gave me is stronger."

"There are still quite a few powerful heavenly materials and earthly treasures. So many grade eight and grade nine items. This can be considered a huge victory."

As Xu Mu spoke, he looked at Miao Qing.

Miao Qing shuddered in fear and backed away with a face full of vigilance. "I... I can take less. I didn't... didn't really help this time anyway."

"Relax, I won't shortchange you on your ten percent. However, your ten percent will be paid in spirit stones."

Xu Mu looked at Miao Qing and said, "We can't carry away all these spirit stones anyway. You live here, so it'll be convenient for you to take them in the future."

"Okay!"

Miao Qing was somewhat overwhelmed by the unexpected favor. She hadn't expected Xu Mu to be a man of his word.

Just a moment ago, she thought Xu Mu was planning to kill her.

Spirit stones could be sold to array masters in exchange for heavenly materials and earthly treasures, so it was all the same to her.

"Alright, let's start packing."

Xu Mu took out over a dozen spatial rings from his person and handed them to the people beside him.

With these natural treasures, it would be enough for everyone around him to advance another major stage.

By then, it would be even more difficult for Wang Hun to make a move against him.

Xu Mu and the others began packing. Ultimately, they took all the natural treasures, and Xu Mu also took away a portion of the spirit stones.

It wasn't that they didn't want to take the remaining spirit stones; they simply couldn't fit any more. Before coming here, they had even specifically emptied out their storage spaces.

"Alright, the rest of the spirit stones are yours."

Xu Mu looked at Miao Qing and smiled, "Let's go."

Seeing so many spirit stones, Miao Qing was filled with excitement.

After the group headed back, Xu Mu suddenly looked off into the distance. "Someone else has come in. It's a woman, but it's not Sister Empress."