Chapter 15: The Chi Family

Name: Xu Mu

Lifespan: 62/112

Realm: Qi Refining Fourth Layer; 1/500

Cultivation Technique: Perfect Mastery of Spirit Flame Art; 12/800

Skills:

Alchemy:

- Proficient in Fasting Pill Refinement; 312/400

- Master of Qi Gathering Pill; 23/1600

- Proficient in Second Tier Jade Marrow Pill; 202/800

Spells:

- Grandmaster of Fire Control Art; 3051/3200

- Proficient in Fireball Spell; 10/400

- Skilled in Wind Blade Spell; 108/200

- Master of Light Body Technique; 0/1600

- Perfect Mastery of Invisibility Technique; 0/800

Swordsmanship:

- Proficient in Thundering Sword Art; 247/400

Divine Ability: None

Achievements:

- Blessed with a Daughter: Increases Luck value by 10 points every day.

Luck Value: 235

With the breakthrough in his cultivation, Xu Mu's lifespan increased by another five years, reaching 112 years. His physical and mental strength also grew to a certain extent.

"Alchemy is truly a good thing!"

Originally, Xu Mu calculated that it would take at least a month to make a breakthrough, but unexpectedly, it only took a few days. During these days, he was mostly focused on alchemy and didn't practice much.

After adapting to the breakthrough in his cultivation, Xu Mu immediately ran to the bedroom to share his joy with his wife.

"Husband, you seem to have become younger?"

Before he could speak, Ye Yingying, who was feeding their daughter Ling'er, exclaimed in surprise.

"That's because I made a breakthrough in my cultivation! But is it that obvious?" he wondered, rubbing his chin.

Although he had only advanced from the early stage of Qi Refining to the middle stage, and his lifespan had increased by a few years, it shouldn't be that noticeable.

"Take a look for yourself!"

Ye Yingying took out what was in Ling'er's mouth without covering it up, picked up the copper mirror on the bedside, and immediately handed it over.

Xu Mu took the copper mirror and looked at his face. A familiar yet unfamiliar face reflected on the smooth surface.

Distinct facial features, with a hint of determination between the eyebrows.

The graying hair had completely disappeared, replaced by jet-black hair full of vitality. Many wrinkles on his face had also disappeared, making him look radiant, as if he had become ten years younger.

In fact, it was true!

With the Jade Marrow Pill and the breakthrough in his cultivation, he had gained a total of eight years of lifespan, only two years away from ten.

"Not bad! Do you like how I look now, Ying'er?"

Xu Mu handed the copper mirror to Ye Yingying and pinched her nose, laughing.

"I like you no matter how you look!"

Ye Yingying smiled mischievously, revealing her small tiger teeth.

"Really?"

"Mhmm!"

"My Ying'er has such a sweet mouth, I must reward you!"

"Well... it's not yet..."

"Wow!"

Poor Ling'er, watching the two fight on the side, burst into tears in anger.

Please, please stop fighting. It could be fatal!

Wuwuwuwu...

...

The next day

In the early morning, after having breakfast, Xu Mu gave some instructions to his wife and walked out of the house wearing a blue robe.

Outside the door, there were already many people gathered in the small alley.

In groups of two or three, they were whispering to each other.

Jia An was among them.

"Fellow Daoist Xu!"

When Xu Mu came out, he immediately waved and smiled at Xu Mu. The others who were talking also turned their heads to look.

Xu Mu smiled and walked steadily towards them, stepping on the uneven mud on the ground.

Due to his successful cultivation, he appeared very stable when walking, as if every step was measured precisely.

However, no one in the crowd paid much attention.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, you...you..."

When Xu Mu came in front of him, Jia An looked at his radiant appearance with surprise.

"I was fortunate enough to make a breakthrough in my cultivation. I apologize for any inconvenience caused, Fellow Daoist Jia!" Xu Mu smiled.

"Congratulations, congratulations!"

Jia An smiled and knocked the mud off his shoes, quickly bowing.

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist!"

The others also bowed to congratulate him.

Reaching the mid-stage of Qi Refining in the slums made him quite a prominent figure.

However, breaking through at over sixty years old, it was estimated that this was the end of his life, so the others didn't feel much envy.

"You're too kind, everyone!"

Xu Mu returned the bow.

He knew all the people present, as they all lived in this alley. However, Xu Mu didn't have much interaction with them, except for a visit when he first arrived.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, do you think we can succeed this time?"

One of them, a slightly hunched middle-aged man with one ear missing, asked with a worried expression.

Xu Mu knew that this middle-aged man had moved in recently, living in the house at the entrance of the alley that used to belong to Sun Daocheng. He was a talisman maker named Ma Rui, and Xu Mu had visited him when he first arrived.

However, this talisman maker Ma Rui was somewhat unconventional, even considered eccentric. He actually combined drawing talismans with colors, creating small books with illusion techniques, and even tried to sell them to Xu Mu. However, due to the price... cough, cough, Xu Mu rejected him for being unscrupulous.

"I'm in seclusion at home every day refining pills, so I really don't know where to start. You should ask Fellow Daoist Jia!" Xu Mu smiled and declined the question.

This time, he just wanted to be a small transparent figure.

"Fellow Daoist Ma, you can rest assured! I've said it several times already, there won't be any problems!" Jia An said impatiently.

Ma Rui had already asked several times before Xu Mu arrived.

This guy was really timid!

"But the Chi family has a Foundation Building stage cultivator!"

Ma Rui clearly had limited courage. Even though Jia An had said it several times, he still frowned and worried, wanting to ask whenever he saw someone.

While they were talking, another door opened nearby.

Two pale-faced, tall and thin men walked out.

It was the Li brothers!

Xu Mu didn't expect that Jia An could bring these two people in.

After the Li brothers came out, they glanced at everyone, leaned against the wall, closed their eyes, and ignored everyone. They seemed very unsociable.

But no one bothered to lecture them!

It was already quite good that the two of them could participate in this event.

Xu Mu originally wanted to ask Jia An how he managed to bring these two people over, but with so many people and the two of them standing on the side, it was not convenient to inquire.

When almost everyone had come out, a middle-aged cultivator in a yellow robe walked in from the street outside.

Wearing a robe like that despite being rich, this person shouldn't appear in the slums, both in terms of cultivation and status.

"Is everyone here?"

"Everyone's here! Everyone's here!"

In the crowd, including Jia An, three people walked towards the middle-aged cultivator with smiles on their faces.

These three people are obviously the leaders of their alley.

It seems that Jia An may not be the one who invited the Li brothers out.

Facing the flattery from the three people, the cultivator in the yellow robe couldn't be bothered and simply said, "Let's go then!" He turned around and walked away.

The three people were not angry and turned to call familiar people to follow.

Xu Mu and Ma Rui also walked out of the alley.

After leaving the alley, they realized that there were already many people gathered on the street, all of them residents nearby.

The crowd gathered and followed the cultivator in the yellow robe towards the direction of the market.

Halfway there, three more groups joined in, and the number of people reached four to five hundred.

Such a large crowd gathering in such a small market is definitely a rare occurrence in a century.

Moreover, Xu Mu noticed that among them, there were not only low-level cultivators from the slums, but also middle-level cultivators living in the market. Especially the leaders, all of them were wearing high-quality robes, indicating their extraordinary strength.

In the past, they were all existences that he could only aspire to.

With so many experts and so many people, it doesn't seem like they are here to negotiate, but more like they are forcing someone out.

Xu Mu had a bad feeling, especially after recognizing one of the high-level cultivators, this feeling became even stronger.

With so many people, if a conflict were to occur later, it could easily lead to a major riot. If he were to get involved, he might end up as cannon fodder.

But it seems too late to withdraw now. He was caught up in the crowd, and if he were to turn back, he would immediately become the target of everyone's arrows.

Especially now, there are so many high-level cultivators in the group, and he might become the scapegoat.

All Xu Mu could do was to slow down as much as possible, letting himself fall to the back of the group, so that he could escape in time if something unexpected happened.

"I didn't expect there to be so many people! This might actually work! Haha!"

Originally timid and fearful, Ma Rui became excited and excited after blending into the large group.

Xu Mu stepped back, but he kept pushing forward.

"What's going on?"

"What happened?"

The pedestrians on the street noticed their actions and stopped, making way for them and whispering to each other.

Some bold cultivators followed behind, wanting to see what they were up to.

The crowd continued to gather, and by the time they reached the Chi family's residence, the number of people had reached over a thousand.

The small entrance was crowded with people, bustling with activity.

The Chi family had obviously received the news long ago. Several high-level cultivators wearing robes were guarding the entrance, ready for battle.

"What do you want to do? Do you know where this is? You can't die here!!"

A man wearing a high-quality blue robe, carrying a long sword on his back, stood in front of the crowd and coldly rebuked.

Facing a queue of over a thousand people, the middle-aged man showed no fear, indicating that his identity was extraordinary.

The highest-level cultivator in the crowd, wearing a gray robe, stepped forward.

"Master of the Chi family, we don't want to do anything, we just came to seek an explanation! The Chi family keeps raising the rent, and we low-level cultivators can no longer afford to live. Does the Chi family really want to force us to death?"

"Hmph!"

The master of the Chi family snorted and said, "The rent in the market is determined collectively by all the families. You specifically came to find our Chi family. Are you trying to bully us?"

As he spoke, an invisible pressure emanated from him, cold and sharp, like a sword pressing against everyone's throats.

"We don't know who determines the rent, all we know is that we pay the rent to the Chi family. Now we ask the master of the Chi family, can the rent be lowered? Can you give us a way out?"

Another cultivator in the Qi Refining stage stood up from the crowd and said calmly.

"That's right, give us a way out!"

"Is the Chi family really trying to force us to death?"

"I, alone, am already as good as dead. I might as well fight with you all!"

The crowd was incited and began shouting loudly, their emotions rising, and a large-scale conflict could break out at any moment.

The master of the Chi family's face turned extremely ugly.

Even if you use your ass to think, you would know that to organize such a large-scale siege, there must be other Foundation Building families secretly involved.

They knew that the ancestor of the Chi family was injured in the battle of soul refining and temporarily unable to take action, so they deliberately made this move.

If he retreats this time, the probing behind will be endless, until they are forced into a dead end.

Although they belong to the same camp, there has never been any love between them.

The group of people in front of them are just cannon fodder.

The current situation is also a result of underestimating the shamelessness of other families.

"Do you want to reduce the rent? Fine! I'll give you a chance! You, you, and you!"

The head of the Chi family pointed to the three strongest cultivators, including the old cultivator.

"As long as the three of you can take my sword, not only will the Chi family reduce the rent, but we will also waive your rent for a year! Dare or not?"

The head of the Chi family shouted.

"This, this..."

In fact, these three are not short of this rent, but they were promised various benefits behind the scenes, which is why they were willing to step forward.

Otherwise, a group of low-level cultivators would not be able to accomplish anything.

The head of the Chi family has put them in a difficult position.

If they agree, even if they win, they won't get much benefit. One year's rent is nothing to them at their level.

But if they don't agree, the temporary team they gathered will probably disperse in an instant.

Without the advantage of numbers, they dare not confront the Chi family.

After all, a skinny camel is still bigger than a horse!

"In that case, the three of us will learn the Chi family's unparalleled sword technique together!"

The old cultivator in the gray robe was also shrewd and directly turned the duel into a three-on-one, rather than one by one.

In this way, they have at least a 90% chance of winning, even if the other side is a Foundation Building family.

The other two also brightened up and immediately clasped their hands and said, "Then the three of us will learn the Chi family's tricks!"

The head of the Chi family's face looked ugly, and his eyes were filled with killing intent, but he did not stop the three's cleverness.

As the duel was established, the crowd automatically dispersed, making way for an open space.

The four stood facing each other.

The gray-robed old cultivator and the other two immediately released their defensive magic weapons and also cast several protective spells, instantly turning themselves into turtles in a shell.

With such defense, even a Foundation Building cultivator would not be able to break through in an instant.

The crowd seemed to have already foreseen the furious appearance of the head of the Chi family after his failure.

However, Xu Mu had a slightly different view.

Because he didn't think that someone who could sit in the position of the head of the family would be a fool.

"Are you ready?" the head of the Chi family said coldly.

"Please enlighten us, Head of the Chi family!"

The three of them felt a little uncertain in their hearts. Although it seemed that they had a great chance of winning on the surface, for some reason, they felt uncertain.

But now that the arrow was on the string, they had to shoot. They couldn't afford to retreat at all.

So they could only console themselves in their hearts, thinking that maybe they were overthinking it.

After all, both sides were at the late stage of Qi Refining. Even if there was a big difference, it shouldn't be impossible to block a single move.

"In that case! Then—"

"Die!"

A cold light suddenly burst out of the head of the Chi family's eyes. The long sword behind him buzzed and suddenly unsheathed, releasing an extremely sharp sword aura.

In the next moment, the long sword split!

One became two, two became four, and four became eight, forming tens of thousands of long swords in the blink of an eye.

"The Sword Art of Ten Thousand Spirits! Go!"

Faced with such an attack, the faces of the three individuals instantly changed.

"Head of the Chi family, we ack... Ahhh!"

The impenetrable defense of the three individuals was shattered in an instant under the impact of the countless sword auras, and their bodies were directly pierced like a hornet's nest.

When the sword aura dissipated, the ground was covered with densely packed holes, making everyone's scalp tingle.

"Now, does anyone still want to reduce the rent?"

(End of this chapter)

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