Xu Mu really didn't want to use this trick originally. He had already said he was fine this time, but Fu Jinyu thought he was just pretending.
So Xu Mu had no choice but to put on an act.
"Xu Mu! Don't die!"
Fu Jinyu's heart suddenly clenched as she frantically shook Xu Mu's shoulders.
Qiguan You also jogged over from a distance; she had seen the attack just now.
With such immense power landing a solid blow on Xu Mu's stomach, the fact that his body hadn't been pierced through meant he was already incredibly strong.
"Big sister, I have healing pills here," Qiguan You immediately said.
"Right, healing pills. I have some here too."
Fu Jinyu held Xu Mu and gently laid him on the ground.
She touched her spatial ring and took out the pills Xu Mu had refined. "Quick, eat this! Hurry up and eat it!"
"Sister Empress, if I'm lucky enough to survive... can those two seconds become one minute?"
Xu Mu said weakly.
"I promise you! I promise you anything! Just eat the pill!"
Fu Jinyu's eyes were red as she nervously stuffed the pill into Xu Mu's mouth.
After swallowing it, Xu Mu stood up from the ground and swung his arm. "As expected of the pills I refined, I'm instantly healed."
"Damn it!"
Seeing this, Fu Jinyu kicked out at him.
However, Xu Mu easily dodged it.
Qiguan You's face was full of disbelief. With such a huge gap in their cultivation realms, he had taken a full-on strike yet was completely fine.
"Actually, I am a little hurt, but let's get the treasure first."
Xu Mu took a deep breath. Saying he was fine was a lie; it really hurt a lot, and he felt his stomach must be bruised.
However, as his physique continued to strengthen, experts in the early stages of the Realm-Breaking level would find it very difficult to kill him using just brute force without relying on cultivation techniques.
[Favorability +10]
Fu Jinyu put her sunglasses back on and said softly, "Don't do such dangerous things ever again. I don't want you to die."
"Sister Empress, you aren't crying, are you?"
Xu Mu tilted his head, trying to see the truth through the gap under her sunglasses.
Fu Jinyu pushed Xu Mu away. "Get lost!"
"Sorry, I shouldn't have lied to you."
Xu Mu felt a bit embarrassed. He clapped his hands loudly. "Alright, the person controlling this formation has been dealt with. Let's hurry up and go!"
The group quickly walked towards the top of the mountain. However, the summit was still empty, with only the flames of the illusion formation.
Qiguan You squatted on the ground, pressing her hands against the earth. Lines resembling a spider web continuously spread out in all directions.
"Found it!"
The Qi on her body suddenly erupted, and a massive formation began to flash with light, with her at the center.
Crack!
A sound like shattering glass rang out, and the formation in front of them entirely shattered and vanished.
The surrounding flames dissipated. At this moment, they reappeared on the bare, low mountain.
"Impressive. You can even execute a level-seven formation. To reach the level of an advanced formation master at your age, it's no wonder you hold the rank of an elder."
Xu Mu clapped gently from the side.
"I just have a little bit of talent."
Qiguan You said with a smile.
Xu Mu walked into the distance and finally found a coriander plant, also known as cilantro, inside a cave.
He walked further in and crouched on the ground. The appearance of this coriander was no different from ordinary coriander; it was all green.
The only difference was that a faint, visible glow intertwined around the coriander.
These rays of light twinkled around it like spots of starlight.
"What powerful spiritual energy."
Fu Jinyu stared at the Myriad Spirit Coriander on the ground. "As expected of a divine herb. It should be in its mature state."
"Perhaps Xianling Nan just wanted to wait for it to mature before taking it, but now it's ours."
Xu Mu squatted on the ground, dug it up along with the soil around its roots, and put it into his storage space.
The group made their way back and successfully left the ruins.
After they walked out of the unfinished building.
Xu Mu took out his phone and said to Qiguan You, "Let's exchange contact information. I'll contact you once I finish refining the pills."
"Alright."
Qiguan You didn't refuse, otherwise it would seem too hypocritical.
"By the way, since you belong to a formation sect, do you collect spirit stones?"
Xu Mu suddenly remembered that he currently had a lot of spirit stones on him.
Although spirit stones would be very useful in the later stages, for Xu Mu and the others right now, they needed natural treasures more.
They had to cultivate to the later stages first.
"Of course we need spirit stones, but I still suggest you look for someone else."
Qiguan You took out her phone. "I wonder if you've heard of Lumang Mountain. Our Second Elder cooperates with them. You can sell your spirit stones to them. I'll give you their contact information."
"No need, I was just asking casually. Tantai Quan and I also have a cooperative relationship."
Xu Mu didn't expect Tantai Quan's business to be so extensive that he even collected spirit stones.
"Alright, big brother, big sister. If there's nothing else, I'll head back first. The Fifth Elder is dead, and I need to report this to the Second Elder."
Qiguan You said to the two.
"Mhm."
Xu Mu nodded.
Watching Qiguan You leave, Xu Mu took out his car, and the two sat inside together.
"Xu Mu, why don't you go back first."
Fu Jinyu glanced at Xu Mu. "I want to wait another day."
"You want to wait for Fu Cheng?"
"That's right. He has always been a major threat to me. Now that I have the ability to kill him, I don't want to wait any longer."
Fu Jinyu nodded.
"But he still has the Great Elder of the Holy Sect by his side."
Xu Mu started the car. "What I mean is to wait a little longer. Once I refine the divine herb into pills, you should be able to reach the Great Perfection of the Mortal Shedding realm. By then, facing Fu Cheng will be an absolute crush."
Fu Jinyu looked straight ahead and finally agreed, "I'll listen to you."
...
Xu Mu first dropped Fu Jinyu off in the northern part of the Central Plains, then returned to Jiang City alone.
Upon returning to Jiang City, he deliberately made a detour to Chen Xuan's house.
When he arrived, he found Chen Xuan getting ready to head out on his electric scooter.
"Brother Mu! I was just about to go look for you."
Chen Xuan stopped the scooter, full of excitement.
"What's wrong?"
Xu Mu asked curiously.
"Widow Wang from the village messaged me saying that when she went to visit her husband's grave today, she saw incense in front of my master's grave, and it was only half-burned."
Chen Xuan's face was filled with joy. "It's my senior sister! It has to be her!"
"Are you planning to go back to your hometown?"
Xu Mu asked with a smile.
"That's right, I'm planning to go right now."
Chen Xuan said with a smile. "Once I find my senior sister, I'll bring her along to find you."
"Do you need me to drive you there?"
"No need. My senior sister definitely won't be waiting for me at home, so it might take me some time to find her."
Chen Xuan shook his head.
"Alright then. I came to find you this time to give you some pills."
Xu Mu took out a few pills from his pocket. "I won't bother explaining them; you should know their effects. Like I said before, I've got you covered up to the Grandmaster level."
Looking at the pills in his hand, Chen Xuan said gratefully, "Brother Mu, words cannot express my gratitude for this great favor."
"They were originally your things anyway, what great favor is there?"
Xu Mu waved his hand with a smile. "Hurry up and head back."
"Okay."
Chen Xuan agreed.
Xu Mu then drove himself back to his villa. When he arrived at the underground garage, he was surprised to find that the villa's level-nine formation was in an activated state.
Could a top expert have broken in here?

e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.

his freshman year, Su Bai accidentally bound the "Indulgence Tycoon System." 【Sleeping in? Reward: +$1,000】 【Spent $288 at a street barbecue stall? Cashback: +$2,880】 【Dropped $14,396 on in-game skins? Special reward unlocked: A brand-new Porsche Panamera!】 Luxury cars, penthouses, corporate shares, financial empires… College life was all about living freely and doing whatever he pleased! … When the adorably naive academic genius faced family medical bills and financial struggles, Su Bai waved his hand dismissively: "Your future is on me." "Wuwu~ Big Brother is so good to me! I’ll become a scientist to repay you!" When the genius girl got bullied by a shady professor? Su Bai casually dropped a billion-dollar investment, forcing the university to grovel and beg for her return. A company’s funding chain collapsing? Su Bai smirked—cash was the one thing he’d never run out of. Years later, when people traced the rise of the AI prodigy beauty, who was the man behind her success? Not just that—Su Bai also became the tsundere campus belle’s unattainable dream, the contrast senior’s daily necessity, and the beautiful counselor’s emotional anchor…

to panic—he has a system. As long as an investment target dies, he can claim a reward. And since he is immortal, the one thing he has plenty of is time. ... Countless years later. “Immortal Emperor of Longevity? I invested in him.” “Supreme Celestial Venerable? I invested in him.” “Undying Empress? I invested in her.” “...” “Heh. Once they’ve all died, even the Heavenly Dao will have to kneel and call me Dad.”

Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"