The Mysterious Woman, Holy Autumn

Xu Mu had always been a cautious person. He didn't know these people at all—what if they were trying to set him up?

Especially when it came to the secrets of the formation. They weren't related by blood or friendship, so why would she tell him?

If she had already obtained the treasure, that would be one thing, but the key point was that she hadn't gotten the treasure yet, and still she wanted to bring him along.

When something is out of the ordinary, there's usually something fishy behind it.

He needed at least to figure out who these people were first. He had a strong feeling they were most likely trying to scam him.

Or maybe they were even people from the Eternal Life Research Institute.

The woman in black robes, the one who had spoken first, took off her entire robe, revealing a suit of black armor underneath.

The armor perfectly outlined the curves of her chest, and it was even backless.

Her fair, jade-like back formed a striking contrast against the pitch-black armor.

She had long black hair, and her face looked somewhat youthful.

However, her expression and gaze were extremely cold, as if she cared about nothing at all.

Xu Mu was secretly startled. This was the first time he had encountered such a combination—a baby face paired with that terrifying thunder aura.

If you blocked out everything below her neck and only looked at her face, you'd say she was no more than fifteen or sixteen.

But then the curves of the armor on her chest were so alluring.

Of course, Xu Mu wasn't sure if it was padded or not.

He immediately used his Divine Eye to inspect this woman.

Name: Sheng Qiu

Identity: A member of the Dahuang tribe, a servant of a Divine General

Affinity: 50

Fate Level: 7 (with a max level of 10)

Xu Mu stood frozen on the spot the moment he saw this information. What was going on?

He didn't even know this woman, so why did she have such a high affinity toward him?

Moreover, she wasn't anyone's main heroine, yet her Fate Level was seven.

Xu Mu checked her devotion value again, and found it was only three.

He was getting more and more confused. Could the system be malfunctioning?

"My name is Sheng Qiu. I definitely won't harm you."

Sheng Qiu looked at Xu Mu with a blank expression. "If you don't want to come with us, I won't force you."

With that, she turned to the two people behind her and said, "Let's go!"

"Wait! I'll come with you! I trust my eyes—someone like you must be a good person."

Xu Mu followed behind Sheng Qiu, asking with a smile, "May I ask where you're from?"

"That is something I cannot disclose."

Sheng Qiu kept a calm face, walking ahead.

Xu Mu then turned to the two hooded figures behind him. "Hello, you two. My name is Xu Mu."

The tall hooded one remained silent, but the other—a woman—spoke up with a smile:

"Your reputation is pretty big these days. Everyone knows who you are."

She continued with a chuckle, "But as for me, I'll keep my introduction brief."

Xu Mu followed the group all the way into the interior of the palace. The moment they stepped inside, a foul stench of blood hit his nostrils.

"The steps up ahead are the battle arena. Let's hurry on up."

Sheng Qiu looked at the people beside her and headed toward the square stone steps.

They all stepped onto the stairs, and a beam of light enveloped the four of them.

"Right now, we're waiting for our opponent—the ones stepping onto the stairs from the other side."

Sheng Qiu turned to Xu Mu and explained, "Don't worry, this is only the first round. It's very simple, unless we run into a master. But even the strongest here is only at the second rank. Even if we can't beat them, we can stall until the time runs out."

Xu Mu nodded. Thinking about it carefully, the formation here was extremely complex. If one wanted to fully master it, the cost would be unimaginable.

Buzz!

Just then, the surrounding environment began to change.

Xu Mu and the others had been standing on stone steps, but now they found themselves inside an arena.

Across from them stood two people.

Both figures emitted a faint glow, carrying a kind of holy, pure beauty.

The man was handsome, and the woman was stunningly beautiful, both wearing gentle smiles.

"This is why I didn't let you come in earlier. If you had stepped on that alone, your opponents could have been several people at once. Besides, your current cultivation level is still far from the second tier of Boundary Breaking."

After Sheng Qiu finished speaking, she walked toward those two people.

As she took each step, a pitch-black power began to radiate from her body. These dark forces transformed into oracle bone script characters, surfacing across Sheng Qiu's form.

On her face, her neck, and the large expanse of exposed back, irregular patterns of dark script spread out.

Whoosh!

Sheng Qiu's figure vanished in an instant, reappearing the very next moment behind those two people.

The necks of these two seemingly holy figures were each missing a large chunk, blood gushing relentlessly from the wounds.

Xu Mu frowned slightly. "What a shame about that girl."

"That person isn't necessarily a woman. This is just the concealment of the formation. In their eyes right now, we all appear as vengeful spirits."

The woman beside Xu Mu explained with a smile.

"I see."

Xu Mu nodded in sudden understanding.

At the same time, an opening appeared on the side of the arena.

The characters on Sheng Qiu's body gradually faded, and she turned to Xu Mu and said, "Let's go. That's the exit from this formation."

Xu Mu smiled and nodded.

One by one, they stepped out through the opening, and the originally dim environment instantly became bright.

They now stood on yet another rocky mountain, the high sun shining down, causing Xu Mu to instinctively squint.

This time, among the cracks between the stones, traces of vegetation could be seen.

"Xu Mu, I can only take you this far. The formations beyond are even more dangerous, and we don't have the time to protect you."

Sheng Qiu said flatly. "You can wait here. Once we've obtained the treasures, I'll come back to take you out."

"No need, beautiful lady. I came here to find treasures myself. I'm not about to just sit around."

Xu Mu grinned at Sheng Qiu.

"Then may luck be on your side."

With that, Sheng Qiu turned and left without looking back.

Xu Mu sat on a rock, watching Sheng Qiu's departing figure, still puzzled about her intentions.

He didn't even know her, so why was her goodwill toward him so high?

Just as Xu Mu was pondering this, he suddenly sensed another group of people at the edge of his perception, about two kilometers away.

They were Ma Henggu and his group from the Grand Beginning Hall.

It seemed that after victory, the transfer destination was random, but the party stayed together.

Xu Mu planned to stay on Ma Henggu's tail the whole time, since following him would most likely lead to Ye Chen.

The members of the Grand Beginning Hall had already split up.

Through an illusion formation, Xu Mu altered his appearance and trailed behind Ma Henggu.

He noticed that Ma Henggu was rather fortunate, actually finding a seventh-grade heavenly treasure in a crevice.

About ten or so minutes later, the distant sound of battle rippled outward.

Ma Henggu and the elder beside him immediately rushed over, and Xu Mu followed close behind them.

Before long, a middle-aged man came running toward them, his face covered in blood.

"Second Elder! Young Lord! We found a ninth-grade heaven-and-earth treasure, but a man snatched it away! He killed Old Zhou!"

The middle-aged man said rapidly.

"What? Ninth-grade?"

Ma Henggu said sternly, "Where is it? Let's give chase at once!"

The Second Elder grabbed Ma Henggu and the middle-aged man by the arms respectively, and flew off into the distance.

Xu Mu also quickened his pace. Not long after, he spotted Ye Chen.

As for the killing just now, Ye Chen paid it no mind. He was currently studying a stone.

"That's him!"

The middle-aged man pointed at Ye Chen.

Ma Henggu looked at Ye Chen, then at the corpse not far away, and said in a grim tone, "You've got some nerve! You dare kill one of my sect's men and snatch my sect's treasure!"

Ye Chen glanced at Ma Henggu with a calm expression: "Anything I set my eyes on is mine. If you don't want to die, get lost!"