Wang Shiyu was also taken aback.
She never knew Li Mu could kill Lord Jin with just one strike.
That sunshine boy in the school in the past, that enthusiastic and helpful rural boy full of vitality, that ordinary young man from the earth just murdered a lofty lord… In a trance, Wang Shiyu gradually realized that all had changed. The boy sharing the desk with her in the past was now a Sage famous in the world. If he was still on Earth, he alone had more power than any permanent member state of the United Nations.
That idea, yet, simply flashed through Wang Shiyu’s mind.
She was aware that everything had changed.
“Avenge His Highness!”
“Kill him!”
“Let’s fight him to death!”
As the whole thing finally sank in, the guards of Lord Jin unsheathed their weapons and rushed at Li Mu with no fear of death.
They were the loyal fighters Lord Jin had trained. They were in or above the Natural Realm. Some were even Celestial Beings. They were all entrenched in the view that they shall risk their lives to avenge their master when the master was insulted, not to mention beheaded in public. Those loyal fighters were fearless. To kill was their second nature. So, they were practically a bunch of mad killing machines.
Li Mu struck without reservation.
The opaque broadsword light swiveled.
The intangible broadsword qi cut across the void, unfurling into a net of light.
Next, a hundred loyal guards of Lord Jin turned into balls of fiery fire as they raced forward, as though flowers of death blossomed. They all dissolved into the wind about 10 meters away from Li Mu. None of them made near enough to seize a piece of Li Mu’s clothes, let alone launch any counterattack.
The strength and cultivation gap was so glaring that the increase of quantity could never make it up.
No blood spilled.
But the sight was more unsettling than any bloody slaughter.
The leaders of the factions on the stage and the important figures at the VIP tables were all shuddering in fear. At that sight, they lost their nerves and became too scared to escape.
Princess Crescent and her besties were sitting very close to the stage.
At that time, those girls were all quivering.
Especially Princess Crescent. The fright and panic she felt were beyond description.
Countess Huanzhu had such a terrifying “old friend”! She did not see it coming, even in her wildest dreams.
Zhao Chen, Lord Jin, was the strongest rebellious lord in the Northern Song. He had armies of more than a million soldiers, controlled half of the Jianghu forces in the Northern Song. Nevertheless, somebody killed him as easily as killing a chicken. The Glory Army consisting of 200,000 picked soldiers, and several hundred Heads and experts of Jianghu factions had both failed to contain the teenager, nor did a Semi-Sage succeed in that task.
Zhang Sanfeng, the short-haired young man in white, was like the God of Kill descending from hell. He was invincible like a deity, tying everyone’s hands up.
“The man I find favor in my eyes is the hero of the age. Someday, he will come riding colorful clouds in a suit of golden Sage armor to marry me…”
That remark Countess Huanzhu made had been deemed as a crazy idea in the entire Lin’an. Just several hours ago, Princess Crescent made fun of her with that remark. But by far…
The joke was on whom?
Given the strength that Zhang Sanfeng had demonstrated, even though he did not come riding colorful clouds in a suit of gold armor, he was definitely worthy of the title “the hero of the age”.
With his extremely short hair, the young man in white did look a bit weird, perhaps somewhere between a monk and a Taoist. But other than that, he was absolutely a man of striking appearance. He was full of life, especially his eyes, which twinkled as though stars lived there. No one could forget his appearance once they caught a glimpse of him. Undoubtedly, he was rarely fine-looking.
For the moment, Princess Crescent was tormented by envy, jealousy, and fear.
As if on cue, Li Mu turned to Wang Shiyu and inquired, “By the way, you just said some vicious women picked on you. Who are those vicious women? You identify them and I’ll punish them for you.”
When that question came out, the hearts of Princess Crescent and her friends began to pound frenetically. Cold sweat dripped from their foreheads like heavy rain.
Wang Shiyu smiled. “I was just joking around. No one picked on me. Only Lord Jin disrespected me and killed my guards of my adopted father. But you’ve already gotten rid of him.”
Li Mu nodded and did not pose more questions. Instead, he looked at the Heads of the factions and ordered, “You go back to your places and shut yourselves in closed-door training for a century. Not a single of your members will step in Jianghu during that period. Can you do that?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Yes, we dare not violate the Sage’s order.”
“Sure, we can.”
The leaders of the Wind and Thunder Sect, the Landscape Sect, the Heaven Heart Chamber all lowered their heads, too unnerved to have an eye contact with Li Mu.
Each of those factions was top-ranking, awe-inspiring factions in the Northern Song. They had earned quite a place across the Divine Land. Their disciples all thrived and prospered in the eventful Jianghu of the Northern Song. Many of them even had an influence on the imperial court. However, by then, all the Heads of the renowned factions behaved like lambs. Not daring to contradict the teenager, they all agreed at once.
Because they saw no chance to win against him.
As they all had large factions to run, they could not just take flight. But if they chose to be a diehard, once Zhang Sanfeng came to their place, their entire faction would probably be wiped out.
Despite the long history and wide influence of those factions, once involved in the secular interest dispute, they were short of the boldness to put up a desperate fight. Most of them could only be on the defensive side. Therefore, the leaders had to first consider the interest of their factions. Sealing themselves in their territories for a century would cost them nothing. After all, to the martial arts world, a century was not very long.
Li Mu waved them off and said, “Off you go.”
In an instant, the leaders and experts of the factions turned into jets of light and took off in haste.
After that, Li Mu turned to the soldiers of the Glory Army.
Some of them glared at Li Mu, as though hatred had etched to their bones; some lowered their chin and dared not meet his eyes. After Lord Jin was killed, the 200,000 soldiers of the Glory Army lost their commander. Even though a few truly loyal to Lord Jin were seething with wrath, most of them had already lost their morale to revenge.
The Sage was as potent as God. So, how could their ordinary swords hurt him?
Yet, Li Mu had no intention to kill those people.
“We shall leave, too. Let’s get out of here,” suggested Wang Shiyu.
She did not want to see Li Mu get the kill started again. That was not to say she was of a soft nature. It was just that after living in that world for more than a year, Wang Shiyu had learned well about what kind of world it was. In that world, Karma truly existed. She was afraid that Li Mu would accumulate too much bad Karma if he killed too many people.
Li Mu concurred with a nod. He reached out to grab her soft, tiny hand, and said, “Sure, let’s go back to Daoyin Temple.”
The crowd was relieved to see that the God of Kill was finally taking off.
Especially Princess Crescent and her friends. To their surprise, Wang Shiyu did not tell on them before Li Mu. After making sure they had escaped the tribulation, they all exclaimed how lucky they were in their minds.
Still, Princess Crescent was sneering internally.
“Humph, Wang Shiyu, you country b*tch, you wriggled out of this one by fluke. But don’t assume I’ll be grateful for your cutting slack for me. Next time, as luck would have it, you’ll think you’re better off than dead.”
Just at that time, Li Mu suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked back at Princess Crescent and her friends. “Though Yu’er didn’t say a word, I know it’s you… Hateful shrews, you still don’t have a little remorse. I will not throw you a death penalty, but punishment shall be served.”
Several flashes of broadsword light were sighted.
“Ahhh…”
Princess Crescent squeaked. Feeling the weight on her head lightened, she found that her beautiful hair was burnt up by the fiery flames, exposing her white scalp. The fire the Broadsword Intent conjured up aimed so accurately that the flames only destroyed her hair but did not hurt her skin.
A series of horrified cries were heard.
None of the girls who also humiliated Wang Shiyu in the center tent was spared. Their hair was all burnt up, revealing the shining scalp beneath. Sensing that their hair was gone, the girls all went pale and shrieked in despair.
As Li Mu’s spiritual force was already very powerful and highly perceptive, he could easily sense the emotions of those around him. Thus, he had long known the culprits were Princess Crescent and her cronies. But since Wang Shiyu declined to ascertain their liability, Li Mu decided to merely teach the girls a lesson.
When the flames were gone, Li Mu and Wang Shiyu already disappeared from the stage.
In the camp, everyone exchanged helpless looks.
No one knew the event could take such a turn. The grand ceremony was initially an event that would change the fate of the entire Northern Song. And Lord Jin could be the eye-catching protagonist. However, the event wrapped up in haste. Lord Jin died on the eve of his prime. The 200,000 most outstanding soldiers of the Glory Army lost their master. So did the businesses Lord Jin had run for years and the rest of forces in Lord Jin’s league…
As the silent musing went on, some people suddenly perked up.
With Lord Jin dead, all his powers and territories became ownerless!
If one of them took over the forces in Lord Jin’s league and his territories, he would become the next number one lord of the Northern Song, wouldn’t he?
At that thought, the eyes of all the envoys sent by the other rebellious lords lit with excitement.
Yet, nobody noticed that Xuan Chengzi, the Taoist from Mount Qingcheng who had remained silent the whole time and almost no one felt his presence, unexpectedly reappeared. As he inhaled and exhaled, wisps of black mist came out and became transparent, odorless air, which were then inhaled by all the guests at the VIP tables and some generals of the Glory Army in the distance…
…
…
“So you are saying we might have a chance to get back?”
Wang Shiyu looked at Li Mu, thrilled at the news.
White clouds were drifting in the blue sky.
Li Mu nodded and smiled at her. “The old faker told me once I enter the Void-breaking Realm, I will be able to go beyond this planet and find the way back to Earth.” Then, except for some secrets about the old faker, he told his old deskmate about some discoveries he had made on that planet, including the Path developed by the forefathers, and the fact that Lao Zi, Qu Yuan, Li Bai, and other celebrities had visited that planet as well.
The two both felt they had natural trust and intimacy between them.
“Once the Path is found, we might be able to double back to Earth. I suppose that will happen in the foreseeable future.” Li Mu offered Wang Shiyu his view. Then, in great confidence, he said, “When that time comes, I can bring you back.”
“Really? That’s awesome. I’ve stayed here for more than a year. My mom and dad must be devastated after they found out I was missing. How I wish to see them again, to tell them I’m fine. And I’m dying to see my grandparents, my classmates, our teacher in charge… and that little Teddy I’ve kept. Oh, I miss everyone on Earth!” Wang Shiyu sighed, her appealing eyes welling with tears.
Before, she thought she would never be able to go back to Earth after she was teleported to that world. For that reason, she already gave up hope. But when she heard Li Mu’s assertion, she saw light in the darkness again. That eager inside her surged again.
“So do I.”
Li Mu said knowingly.
Although on that planet he had dominated a county, earned a high ranking, and gleefully overawed that world, deep down, he still thought he belonged to Earth.
Maybe the natural environment, the amount of the Spiritual Qi, and the view on Earth were not better than that world, and the continental area was also smaller—the lands on Earth added up was still smaller than any of the three great empires on that planet—but a mother never looked ugly to her son. No matter how worse Earth was, it was Li Mu’s home, the place where he grew up. The ultimate goal and motivation of his hardworking in that world were simply to go back to Earth to protect it.
“Haha, old deskmate, you are basically an immortal, aren’t you?” Having sorted out her emotions, Wang Shiyu beamingly brought up another topic.
Li Mu was busily veering the clouds on which Wang Shiyu and he were riding. They were speeding back to the Daoyin Temple by air.
Li Mu giggled. “Yeah, I guess. The immortals in the legends on Earth are pretty much like this.”
“How I envy you!” Wang Shiyu said heartily. “Since I came to this world, I began to live a life on the streets. Later, I came across my adopted father, who treated me like his birth-daughter. He also hired respected teachers to teach me martial arts and poured me with all kinds of resources and Cultivation Methods. But, curiously, I never managed to produce any internal qi. Seems that I have no talent in that field.”
“Uh? I never heard anything like that.” Li Mu was stunned.
Given that General, the Huskie who had also been transported there by chance, inexplicably attained marvelous skills after getting through that Transmitting Array, Li Mu had been speculating whether Wang Shiyu had gained any wonderful abilities or possessed new talents due to the old faker’s Transmitting Array. Yet, it turned out that she had none!
So, his beautiful deskmate was worth less than a dog?
