He Must Die

High above the ground, Fu Jinyu and Xiang Teng were still locked in a fierce battle.

But blood-red lines had appeared all over Xiang Teng’s body—the marks of the wounds Fu Jinyu had inflicted moments ago.

In any case, his cultivation level was higher than Fu Jinyu’s. If he focused entirely on defense, he could certainly preserve his life in the face of her attacks.

An ordinary person would probably have been sliced into pieces by now.

Xu Mu paid no attention to Fu Jinyu. Even if she failed to kill Xiang Teng, the Xiangliu Clan would no longer dare cause trouble for the Sky Demon Clan in the future.

He crossed over a distant mountain ridge and headed into the forest. Venomous snakes could occasionally be seen all around him.

Xu Mu came to a large tree and circled around to its back.

A young man dressed in casual clothes was hiding there, covering his mouth with one hand.

When he saw Xu Mu, the young man collapsed onto the ground as if all the strength had left his body. The fear in his eyes made his entire body tremble.

“No… Don’t kill me! I was wrong! I’ll leave right now! Please, don’t kill me!”

The young man frantically covered his head with both hands. Saliva dribbled from his mouth as he spoke, but he was completely unaware of it.

Xu Mu suddenly froze for a moment. He realized that his current appearance had been altered by the illusion formation.

It was only natural for someone to be frightened after suddenly seeing a person with the eyes of the Sky Demon Clan.

He dispelled the illusion formation and smiled. “Hey, buddy, relax. I’m one of the good guys.”

Earlier, his senses had detected this man sneaking out from deeper within the area and entering the range of Xu Mu’s perception.

What he found strange was the man’s eyes.

They had the pupils of a normal human, which was why Xu Mu had come over to investigate.

Only after hearing Xu Mu’s words did the young man raise his head and take another look at him. He found that Xu Mu’s eyes had returned to normal.

“You… You’re not one of those monsters?”

The young man asked hesitantly.

“No. I’m here to rescue you. Tell me what’s going on here first.”

Xu Mu tried his best to maintain a smile. Based on his examination, the person in front of him was not a martial artist, but an ordinary human.

“I was kidnapped. They’re all monsters! They want to use people like us for experiments.”

The young man burst into tears. “Take me away quickly! It seems there was an earthquake here just now. The cage they were keeping me in cracked open, so I escaped.”

“Don’t worry. We came here to rescue all of you. Where are the others? Take me there now.”

Xu Mu raised a hand, and four long swords floated around his body.

“To these people, I’m the real monster.”

The young man had originally been unwilling to go back, but after seeing Xu Mu perform this technique, he was so shocked that he could barely speak.

“Holy crap! Big brother, are you a cultivator?”

“Something like that. Can you take me there now?”

Xu Mu recalled the four swords around him.

“Of course. Follow me.”

The young man regained some of his courage. He turned around and headed back the way he had come.

Along the way, two members of the Xiangliu Clan spotted Xu Mu and the young man. They immediately inspected their eyes.

When they realized that neither of them was a member of their clan, one of them asked, “Who are you?”

“I heard you captured a large number of ordinary people. That’s a serious taboo. Are you trying to get yourselves killed?”

Xu Mu’s tone was calm.

“I think you’re the one who’s trying to get killed!”

One of the Xiangliu Clan members suddenly lunged at Xu Mu and the others.

The young man beside Xu Mu instinctively hid behind him.

Whoosh!

A long sword transformed into a rainbow and pierced straight through the man’s body.

The man was still charging when he suddenly collapsed to the ground, not even realizing what had happened.

The remaining Xiangliu Clan member turned deathly pale. He turned around and ran.

But after taking only two steps, someone grabbed him by the shoulder from behind.

“Why are you running so fast? Tell me—what are you doing with all these people you’ve captured?”

Xu Mu’s voice came from behind him.

“Otherwise, you know what will happen.”

The Xiangliu Clan member trembled violently in terror.

“I… I don’t really know. I think they’re being used for experiments.”

Xu Mu’s expression gradually darkened.

Could this clan have ties to the Immortality Research Institute?

Wang Hun really was everywhere.

With the two men leading the way, Xu Mu continued toward a cave deep in the area.

Several meters of ground outside the cave had collapsed, clearly the result of an attack that had landed there during the battle moments ago.

Using his senses, Xu Mu discovered that nearly a hundred people were being held in cages inside the cave.

They were relatively young, all of them under forty.

Many of them had sallow, emaciated faces. Judging by their complexions, they were extremely weak and suffering from severe malnutrition.

“Who are you? Who told you to bring them here?”

At that moment, a middle-aged man wearing clothes decorated with python designs approached from the distance.

“Young Master…”

The Xiangliu Clan member beside Xu Mu spoke in a trembling voice, clearly terrified.

“Enough. You’re no longer needed.”

Xu Mu took one step forward and instantly appeared in front of the middle-aged man.

The man was only in the late Grandmaster stage. Naturally, he was no match for Xu Mu.

Boom!

A terrifying pressure, as heavy as a mountain, slammed the middle-aged man into the ground.

The man’s eyes widened. “Who… who are you?”

“A cleaner. Though technically, I’m an outsourced contractor.”

Xu Mu kept one hand in his pocket and spoke indifferently.

“Tell me. Are you connected to the Immortality Research Institute?”

“I…”

“You should know about the cleaners, right? Do you really think your clan’s ancestor can survive?”

Xu Mu pointed toward the battle raging in the sky before the ruins.

“I’ll talk! I’ll talk! Just spare my life!”

Xiang Peng glanced at the battle in the sky and hurriedly said, “We are indeed connected to the Immortality Research Institute.”

Xu Mu’s gaze grew even darker.

“What kind of cooperation do you have with them?”

“Our ancestor has never told us the details. However, my father once mentioned that we’re responsible for capturing people and using them as experimental subjects. In the end, we send the experimental reports to the Immortality Research Institute.”

Xiang Peng paused before continuing, “Then the Immortality Research Institute gives our ancestor a kind of serum. I heard it can extend his lifespan.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Mu took a deep breath. He finally understood why the cleaners ruthlessly exterminated foreign races that crossed the boundary.

After witnessing so many incidents like this, Xu Mu’s heart had gradually begun to develop the belief that those who were not of his kind could never truly share his heart.

Boom! Boom!

At that moment, Fu Jinyu’s battle had already reached the sky above the depths of the ruins.

The scattered force caused the air to shake violently.

The mountains and earth trembled constantly, and many areas began to collapse.

Seeing this, Xu Mu used Cloudstep and soared into the air. He intended to have Fu Jinyu finish the battle quickly.

If there had been no experimental subjects, he might have spared Xiang Teng.

But now, Xiang Teng had to die.

Xiang Teng was at the third stage of the World-Breaking Realm, two full realms ahead of Fu Jinyu.

Although Fu Jinyu currently had the upper hand, if Xiang Teng decided to flee, there was a good chance she would be unable to stop him.

When Fu Jinyu saw Xu Mu approach, she immediately flew over and grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Why are you here? I can deal with him.”

“Give me a hug. I’ll give you a lucky opportunity.”

Xu Mu opened his arms.