Chapter 447 Getting Rich
“You think you’ve killed me?”
That sentence had double implications. The first one was to question if Li Mu really killed him after cutting his head off. The second was to reveal that he was that Emperor Qin Ming Li Mu mistakenly believed he had killed months ago.
Li Mu tilted his head to one side and pondered over it for a second before he ascertained that the head on the ground meant the second one.
Celestial Demon Emperor was Emperor Qin Ming.
In other words, Emperor Qin Ming was Celestial Demon Emperor.
As to the primary and secondary relation, Celestial Demon Emperor must be the primary.
Celestial Demon Emperor had a doppelganger?
“Li Mu, you know nothing about this world.”
When the head spoke, blood started oozing out of the nose and mouth. Shortly, he died completely. His body enveloped by the demonic aura instantly lost its vitality as well and slumped to the ground.
Yet, at the same time, one of the dozens of Demon Guards released black flames from each of his pores as if undergoing a certain kind of transformation. Soon, his qi skyrocketed, and he absorbed all the demonic aura before turning into a tall and majestic figure. Wearing imperial armor with Imperial Sword hanging around his waist, the man showed up with clear-cut features and an imposing look. Who else could it be other than Emperor Qin Ming?
“Now, do you understand?” “Emperor Qin Ming” stepped out of the dozens of Demon Guards. His aura was vast as a sea and matchlessly powerful. The demonic energies revolved around his body like a tornado.
“I see.” Li Mu nodded.
The Fallen-soul Bell rang again.
Li Mu hacked his broadsword at Emperor Qin Ming again. With the help of the wondrous Somersault Cloud, his speed was peerless in the world.
“The same trick, which has already been played once, will not work me anymore.” “Emperor Qin Ming” holding Imperial Sword backhandedly broke into laughter. Meanwhile, a flying sword hovering above his head noisily flung left and right, forming a fan-shaped sword shadow, which directly blocked out the sound of the Fallen-soul Bell.
That flying sword was designed like two snakes entangled with each other, which was quite eccentric. Apparently, it was also a treasure that Emperor Qin Ming had found in the tomb.
However, at that precise moment, the hawk-nose of Hun Yuan Sect’s four disciples abruptly took out a dark black Pipa from his storage space and began to pluck the fretted fingerboard at random.
The noisy pipa was obviously a sonic weapon like the Fallen-soul Bell. In a few seconds, four columns of flames flew out between the pipa strings and zoomed around “Emperor Qin Ming”. The latter quickly felt dizzy and stumbled sideways as if having a hangover.
Li Mu was clearly prepared. Moving like streamers, he swooped upon the emperor with flashing broadsword light.
The head of “Emperor Qin Ming” soared up to the air again.
“Da*n it!” His furious voice came from another Demon Guard. Demonic aura was simmering like boiling water. The body of that Demon Guard began to grow increasingly larger, and then turned into another “Emperor Qin Ming”.
At the same time, that Male and Female Twin-snakes Flying Sword vibrated slightly. Then, it turned into two figures zooming straight at Li Mu with great momentum.
Curious killing intent circulated.
For a moment, Li Mu only felt that his body was frozen and he could not react, as if he had been petrified. A spooky sense of danger enveloped him.
In a fraction of a second, a purple ribbon appeared around Li Mu’s neck. It fluttered elegantly in the wind like a veil.
When the Male and Female Twin-snakes Flying Sword was just about to cut off Li Mu’s head, the purple ribbon released mysterious purple light and the purple Taoist figures on it whirled. Next, a great rebound force erupted, kicking the flying sword back.
At the same time, a flash of lightning fleeted past.
It was another strike launched by Guo Yuqing. His Flying Lightning Spear at once penetrated the chest of “Emperor Qin Ming”. Then, as the five-color feather fan waved at him, the five-color flame darted out and burned “Emperor Qin Ming” into ash.
After that, the Male and Female Twin-snakes Flying Sword dropped into Guo Yuqing’s hands.
The timing of that attack was perfect.
Guo Yuqing certainly had grasped the essence of assassination. He just assassinated the target, burnt his body, and snatched his treasure all in one go.
The master of the Wolf Temple, one of the Nine Superbs, was now engaged in assassinations. It seemed that he had truly come off his perch and started following his heart. Or like the saying “One lies down with dogs must rise up with flea”, Guo Yuqing had been influenced after being around Li Mu for a long time.
Meanwhile, Li Mu wasted no time launching his attack after he resisted the attack of the male and female twin snake flying swords with the purple ribbon. The Broadsword Pellet instantly burst out. Driven by the Emperors’ Fire and the Broadsword-commanding Skill, 108 broadswords soared out and generated an overwhelming metal storm, which directly crumbled more than a dozen Demon Guards into ashes…
“Now, how can you resurrect again?” Li Mu snorted, propping against his broadswords.
In a distance, the aloof boy in black had drawn himself away from the battle. He clutched the long sword on his back, eager to hop on his target any moment. His eyes were burning with excitement. The crazy practitioner could do things regardless of the costs.
Bu Feiyan and her younger sister, both of whom were wrapped in the cloud-patterned handkerchief, had perched on a giant petrified tree a kilometer away, observing the battle intently as well.
That kid of the witch tribe had not been able to run too far before he was caught up by the lanky one of the four disciples of Hun Yuan Sect. The lanky man flung the short metal baton in his hand at him. The baton instantly became as heavy as Mount Tai. Golden light flashed, the chanting in Sanskrit carried out. A force of great compassion and destruction gushed out and turned nearly all the men and women of that witch tribe into ashes.
“The Demon-subduing Pestle?” From a distance away, Bu Feiyan, astounded and eyes riveted on that short metal baton, remarked under her breath.
That kid let out a scream as he was knocked off the shoulders of the coquettish girl, his legs bleeding…
It turned out that both of his legs had already grown into the body of that coquettish young girl, like a tree rooted in the earth, and absorbed her nutrients. He had rooted in the girl for so long that there was just a layer of skin left of the girl.
After the kid was removed from her body, the innocent young girl who was just like a blooming flower had blood trickling out from her eyes, and then fell down weakly, losing all her vitality.
On the back of her neck were two startling holes that were bleeding profusely, which were exactly where the legs of the kid of the witch tribe had taken root.
“The Dastardly Witchcraft?” Bu Feiyan’s pupils contracted abruptly at that sight. “Has Witchcraft Demon reincarnated into this world? And he devoured his mother’s body to restore his strength?”
That was a kind of potent evil sorcery. The Witchcraft Demon came to the world through reincarnation, and then, devoured the flesh and blood of the mother who gave birth to him to replenish his power and regain the witchcraft. The sorcery was an inhuman art of devouring the parent, which was the least tolerated by ethics. Therefore, it was called the Dastardly Witchcraft.
The witch tribes were not all evil. A lot of them were actually decent. Thus, the Dastardly Witchcraft was banned in the major branches of the witch tribes in the universe. And only those tribes that had completely surrendered to evil could perform that art.
“Li Mu, you are dead meat! Head will never let you get away with this…” In a blink of an eye, the kid of the witch tribe had dissolved into a jet of blood-colored light, which fled to the petrified woods outside the Five Villages Temple and disappeared from view.
The lanky disciple of Hun Yuan Sect returned in panic like a schoolboy who did not do his homework. He spluttered, “Master, please let me explain, I’ve exerted all my power and absolutely did not leave on the job.”
Li Mu nodded but did not say a word.
The Cultivation Method of that kid of the witch tribe was extremely weird and crooked. He was definitely not easy to handle.
He opened his Third Eye, glanced around to look for the power source of “Emperor Qin Ming”. All of a sudden, he saw that a wisp of pitch-dark demonic aura was fleeing at the speed of lightning. It sneaked out of the Five Villages Temple and headed west…
“Where are you going?”
In Li Mu’s Third Eye, the Heavenly Purple Thunder and Lightning were circulating. The vertical slant eye finally opened to the full. Dense tiny thunder and lightning figures swirled feverishly. Having accumulated enough power, a bolt of lightning erupted from the Third Eye. Like a divine dragon, it set off later but arrived first, and directly shredded that wisp of demonic aura.
That was Li Mu’s Eye of the Purple Thunder and Lightning.
A blood-curdling shriek came from the shattered demonic aura.
That wisp of black demonic aura then branched into threads and fled in all directions.
“Is he killed or not?” Li Mu was uncertain.
At that moment, Saint of Blood Sea made a quick decision and dashed towards the orchard.
He had seen that none of those people on the scene were Li Mu’s equal. Besides, Li Mu could have crushed them all merely with his enormous collection of precious Taoist Treasures.
Li Mu had truly obtained many treasures in the tomb. Compared with those who regarded getting one or two treasures as a huge gain, Li Mu was incredibly lucky.
“Did luck really side with him?”
Saint of Blood Sea had completely extinguished the idea of battling Li Mu. All that mattered to him was to run for his life. Yet, he did not flee toward the outside of the Five Villages Temple but swiftly hide into the depths of the manor…
Bloody-moon Evil Master followed on his heels like a shadow, who was already scared of his wits.
With a stir of his mind, 108 broadswords swept across the field and charged at Saint of Blood Sea from behind.
He knew no one who turned up in the manor that day was decent. He could kill those alien practitioners without feeling guilty because he had heard about the shocking bloodshed that occurred in the cities and factions of the Northern Song and the Western Qin from the lips of Lord Virtuous the Eighth and realized what was going on.
But Saint of Blood Sea let loose an awful squeal as he held up his hand and threw a little purple-gold hammer backward without looking back.
The hammer’s size increased in the wind. It quickly became very large and hammered into the flying broadswords. With a series of metallic clinks clashes, at least half of the 108 flying broadswords were snapped. After that, the purple-gold hammer soared back and landed in the hands of Saint of Blood Sea.
Then, Saint of Blood Sea and Bloody-moon Evil Master vanished out of sight.
Li Mu frowned, calling back all the broken flying broadswords with his spiritual force. The broadswords fell back into the Broadsword Pellet. The purple-gold hammer Blood Sea Saint cast at the very last moment was clearly a Taoist Treasure in the tomb. For that matter, Li Mu was not surprised to see the hammer break all the flying broadswords Qing Feng had refined.
It seemed that Saint of Blood Sea did not leave empty-handed after all. At least he had found himself a life-saving treasure.
Guo Yuqing directed his Flying Lightning Spear at the aloof boy carrying a sword on his back.
The young man looked rather perturbed. After a few moments of hesitation, he gritted his teeth and said, “Lucky you. Treasures plenty. External help, is not, your strength. I will, come back, once more.” He still paused with every two words, but his meaning was clear. He said Li Mu and his men only found those treasures by fluke. But using external forces did not represent his real combat ability, so the boy decided to come back to challenge Li Mu later.
Li Mu did not chase after the boy.
Instead, he looked into the distance at the gleaming cloud patterns.
With a smile on her face, Bu Feiyan said, “I didn’t attack your friends. But, Li Mu, it’s useless. You merely defeated some disciples of the extraterrestrial giants. Later, when the real giants land on this planet. You won’t be able to fight them even if you have a ton of Taoist Treasures. After all, your realm is way too low compared with theirs. So, you’d better cooperate with us.”
She was trying to talk Li Mu into joining her league.
Li Mu nodded like a chicken pecking rice. Then, he laughed and said, “Missy does have a fair point. Besides, the two of us have been close to each other, and this is not the first time we have met. Of course we can cooperate. Well, how about you two come over here and so we can discuss it?”
Bu Feiyan’s complexion changed. She ground her teeth and said, “You are Li Mu, aren’t you? Good, I’ll remember you. Believe me, we will meet again soon.” With that, she urged the cloud-patterned handkerchief and hurriedly escaped with her younger sister.
She was not dumb. She sure saw that although Li Mu invited them over with a smiley face, he just wanted to lure them to go near him and then cruelly kill them both.
“It’s really hard to fool a woman.”
Li Mu sighed with emotion after failing to catch up with them.
The others went speechless at once.
“He even tried to fool a woman? How shameless he is!”
By that point, the fragile alliance of the extraterrestrial factions that was formed in the haste to vie for the magic fruits was completely shattered by Li Mu, Guo Yuqing, and the four disciples of Hun Yuan Sect. The extraterrestrial practitioners were either killed or injured. And all those who survived took flight.
They were too weak to take Li Mu’s blow.
To everyone’s surprise, the neglected aboriginal of the planet became the biggest winner.
Wang Shiyu did not feel relieved until that moment.
Ming Yue started chuckling.
Qing Feng’s right hand had been gripping the handrail of the wheelchair tightly all the time. But now, the fingers gradually loosened.
Yuan Hou put away the gold cudgel he had been clenching.
“Master.” The four disciples of Hun Yuan Sect marched over, held up the Fallen-soul Bell, Heart-striking Pestle, Pipa, Demon-subduing Pestle, and five-color Treasures Pocket respectfully to return them to Li Mu.
Li Mu had long refined those Taoist Treasures, but he made it clear that he only let them borrow the treasures for some time. Therefore, without further ado, Li Mu took back all the treasures.
“Haha, come here, I’m distributing the treasures. Everyone has a share.” Li Mu announced to Ming Yue and the others.
This time, it was really a huge gain.
“Little ape, this is for you.”
He threw the Demon-subduing Pestle to Yuan Hou.
The short metal batons felt light when he held it his hand, but when it hit the enemy it weighed as heavily as a star. The baton embossed a force of great compassion and destruction, best used in fighting at close quarters. That matched Yuan Hou’s style.
“Thank you, master.” Yuan Hou rejoiced.
He soon refined the Demon-subduing Pestle with his own internal qi so that he could manipulate it freely. It was thousands of times more powerful than the golden cudgel that he himself forged with gold in the Everlasting Heaven. Though the baton appeared to be short, its length could be altered at Yuan Hou’s will.
“This Heart-striking Pestle goes to my silly girl.” Li Mu gave the Heart-striking Pestle to Ming Yue. Unlike the Demon-subduing Pestle, the Heart-striking Pestle was designed for sneak attacks and abrupt blows. It could affect other people’s minds. It was most suitable to be used along with Ming Yue’s enigmatic image of the white lotus against a blue sky.
And the five-color pouch was handed to Qing Feng.
The wonderful pouch contained endless five-color stones. After refining, as long as the owner of the pouch concentrated on the opponent with his spiritual force, the stones could hit the target without missing. It was more or less a hidden weapon, suitable for long-distance attacks, which was perfect for Qing Feng’s fighting style.
“This Male and Female Twin Snakes Flying Sword is now Ming Yue’s.” Guo Yuqing smiled and continued, “The Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover can be useful to Qing Feng.” The two treasures were what he had just snatched from “Emperor Qin Ming” and Yue Guoxiang respectively.
Li Mu smiled and stopped him quickly. “No, brother, didn’t we agree on this? We each search for treasures by dint of our own ability. The treasures belong to whoever first obtains them. So, these two treasures will be saved for my sister-in-law and nephew and niece. They are top defensive weapons. What’s more, one should not own too many such Taoist Treasures. If a man relies on them too much, it will be difficult for him to improve his cultivation.”
Qing Feng and Ming Yue also politely turned down the generous offer.
Thus, Guo Yuqing had no choice but to give up.
Li Mu then took off the purple ribbon from his neck and gave it to Wang Shiyu. “This is the ‘Purple-ribbon Holy Robe’, a rare defensive Taoist Treasure. I’ll help you make it identify you as its master with your blood. It can withstand the bombardment of all Taoist Treasures and block the attacks of all the experts in the Void-breaking Realm. It is best for you to have it.”
Then, without asking Wang Shiyu for her opinion, Li Mu grabbed the hand of his old deskmate, pierced the skin on Wang Shiyu’s fingertip, took out a drop of blood, and applied it onto the Purple-ribbon Holy Robe to complete the master identifying process.
Wang Shiyu blushed, eyes fixed on Li Mu. She simply let him grab her hand.
Shortly, a wonderful feeling surged to her mind. She received a new piece of information that was about the control method of the Purple-ribbon Holy Robe, and its defense power.
But then, Wang Shiyu felt a surge of a deep sense of loss and helplessness, which drowned her like the sea waves. Because she just realized that she could not control the Purple-ribbon Holy Robe even though she had learned the method, she had no way to inject her natural qi into the tactical deployment in that holy robe.
The Purple-ribbon Holy Robe worn by her could only be a passive defense treasure. That was a huge waste instead. Before, Li Mu had used the Purple-ribbon Holy Robe to cause Male and Female Twin Snakes Flying sword of “Emperor Qin Ming” to bounce off.
Nonetheless, Wang Shiyu did not show it on her face but chortled happily, “Thank you, Brother Mu.” As they were in the Tomb of the God of Sin, they were in constant peril. For that reason, Wang Shiyu did not want Li Mu to be distracted by worrying about her safety.
Li Mu nodded with a contented smile.
Then, he used his Third Eye to break down the restriction placed on the storage devices left by Yue Guoxiang, “Emperor Qin Ming”, and the old woman with the black cane, and began to open the “delivered packages”.
These people were all from powerful factions in the universe. They were naturally rich in resources. Sure enough, in addition to secret methods, they also carried around a large number of Star Stones, ores, and Magic Treasures.
Li Mu took one glance at those articles and decisively collected them all.
“Ah? What kind of ore is this?”
Li Mu found more than 100 bizarre silver crystals in the storage device of the old woman with the black cane. Each of the crystals had a natural grain, which seems to be a tactical deployment, and contained a perceptible amount of great force. Moreover, the crystals were almost in the exact same shape and weight.
Li Mu took one out and consulted it with the hawk nose.
The hawk nose’s eyes lit up at once. He replied, “Master, this is fairy crystal, an ore that contains primitive energy. In the Brilliance Immortal Galaxy, it represents wealth. It’s a currency in circulation, which is equivalent to gold and silver in this world.” It could be imagined that Li Mu would not only take one such crystal.
Li Mu’s eyes gleamed with thrill.
“Turns out that this thing is the RMB in that galaxy.”
He had figured it out long ago that the sects and factions in the universe would never use vulgar things like gold and silver as money, so there must be something that could serve as a general equivalent. It was just that he was not clear what exactly it was. But now, he was informed of it.
Fairy crystals.
Li Mu also asked the hawk nose about the purchasing power of the fairy crystal. It turned out that the more than 100 fairy crystals of the old woman with the black cane were quite a fortune. To put it into perspective, it should be noted that an expert in the Void-breaking Realm was unlikely to accumulate so many fairy crystals in about 50 years after he stepped into outer space if he had not encountered special opportunities or improved his strength at amazing speed.
What a windfall!
Li Mu grinned.
Sooner or later, he would have to step into the vast universe. It would not hurt to amass a fortune ahead of time. After all, a penny could sometimes beat the hero. If he did not start now, he probably would not be able to afford a bowl of noodles in the outer world.
After that, Li Mu turned to check Yue Guoxiang’s storage space.
At one glance, Li Mu’s eyes were dazzled.
He would be rich!