The cave was silent, the space still.
The Qiongqi, who had just calmed down, nearly went berserk upon hearing Xu Mu’s question, its Samadhi True Fire flaring uncontrollably in its eyes, incinerating the faint shadows in the space into ashes.
Yun Miaomiao’s neck flushed red. She lowered her head, gazing at her snow-white peaks, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s:
“I just finished, and you want me to do it again? But my charm poison is already gone.”
“Young Master Xu… are you perhaps regretting it?”
Upon hearing this, Xu Mu turned to look at the Qiongqi, then at the fidgeting Yun Miaomiao, and realizing they had misunderstood, he quickly raised both hands and exclaimed:
“No, no, no, no, you’ve misunderstood my meaning.”
“I have nothing to regret, Commander Yun. I just wanted to invite you inside to sit for a while and rest!”
“Oh, really? That’s truly heartbreaking.”
Yun Miaomiao looked up, casting a resentful glance at Xu Mu.
As the Great Commander of the Northwest region of the Hunters Alliance, she had always been accustomed to admiration. She cultivated charm arts, and countless admirers pursued her.
Yet now, afflicted by charm poison, she had thrown herself at Xu Mu, only for him to remain unmoved. He had even devised a method to cure her, implying he disliked her immensely.
Could it be that this peerless genius of the Demon Eradication Division cultivated the legendary Pure Yang Immortal Boy technique and was forbidden to break his vows?
“The latter seems more likely.”
Yun Miaomiao comforted herself, slowly recovering from her shyness and returning to her usual demeanor.
She then noticed that Xu Mu was currently fiddling with the corner of his clothes.
He was clearly more nervous than she was. Yun Miaomiao chuckled softly and teased,
“Young Master Xu, you saved my life. You can have whatever you wish, and I will grant it.”
Yun Miaomiao’s seductive eyes gazed at Xu Mu, making his cheeks burn. He repeatedly shook his head:
“I really didn’t think of doing anything!”
“Commander Yun, let’s pretend what happened before never happened. I swear to you, I will absolutely not say a single word about it!”
Yun Miaomiao laughed a few more times, her laughter like silver bells.
Xu Mu stood rooted to the spot, uncharacteristically awkward. He thought that Yun Miaomiao should be the one feeling embarrassed, and he should be the one laughing freely. So, he began to laugh, but it was so stiff that he choked on his own saliva and started coughing:
“Cough, cough, cough, cough…”
The Qiongqi could no longer stand Xu Mu’s behavior and couldn’t help but turn and roar telepathically at him:
“It’s just a woman, what are you so nervous about!”
“Good sir, don’t forget, we’ve already wasted three hours. We still haven’t found the demon god. If you delay any further, who knows what might happen!”
Xu Mu was startled, then quickly asked:
“Right, Commander Yun, may I ask you some questions?”
Yun Miaomiao nodded, her voice alluring:
“Of course.”
“I will tell you whatever you ask.”
Xu Mu had already regained his composure. He ignored the teasing and asked with a frown:
“I want to ask, although the great demons around here might not be worthy of your attention, there should be weaker supernatural beings staying here. But why haven’t I seen a single one in the past few days?”
Yun Miaomiao’s expression faltered slightly when Xu Mu asked this question, as if recalling something unpleasant:
“Of course, you haven’t seen anyone, because we’ve all gone to the First Cave.”
“The First Cave?” Xu Mu asked, puzzled.
“Yes, someone discovered a place of opportunity nearby. We later called it the Celestial Tree Tomb. The trees there are as tall as the heavens and possess sentience, speaking human words and being impervious to water, fire, swords, or blades.”
“Inside each Celestial Tree lies a mysterious inheritance, left behind by humans from ancient times. We don’t know its connection to the demon god. Only those who possess virtue, character, and talent can linger beneath the Celestial Trees to comprehend and receive the inheritance.”
Yun Miaomiao spoke slowly, and Xu Mu listened with a grave expression.
The inheritance of ancient human powerhouses should be from the era after the Age of Gods and Demons, the era ruled by Fuxi.
Xu Mu:
“In that case, the Celestial Tree Tomb can truly be described as an opportunity reaching the heavens. So, Commander Yun’s injuries were sustained while contending for the Celestial Trees, right?”
Yun Miaomiao, however, replied somewhat bashfully:
“No.”
“This poison was actually not related to anyone else; it was contracted during the Celestial Tree inheritance.”
Xu Mu was stunned:
“The Celestial Tree inheritance can also contract charm poison?”
Yun Miaomiao nodded:
“Yes, but also no.”
“Because the inheritance is too ancient and too mysterious. The texts always mention ‘spiritual energy,’ but we don’t know what spiritual energy is. We can only guess that it is similar to superpowers.”
“The people of ancient times cultivated with spiritual energy, while we revere superpowers. Although they seem vastly different, there are still deviations. This leads to certain problems during the inheritance process.”
Yun Miaomiao’s face flushed slightly as she continued:
“The inheritance I chose was called ‘Neon Robe.’ Although I eventually obtained the complete cultivation method, I lacked spiritual energy. I forcefully used superpowers to cultivate instead, which resulted in a backlash, and I contracted charm poison.”
“After being afflicted with charm poison, I became a target for many ill-intentioned individuals. However, I managed to shake off most of them during the pursuit. Only a vague shadow persistently followed me.”
“I couldn’t discern who that person was. He followed me for five consecutive days until a few days ago, when I managed to shake him off completely by forcibly enlisting the help of a great demon at the Half-Step Human King realm to interfere.”
After listening to Yun Miaomiao’s account, Xu Mu finally understood the origin and entirety of the Celestial Tree Tomb.
Then, he heard Charles sigh:
“This is humanity, possessing infinite potential, capable of ruling the world in different eras and in different ways.”
“Thinking about it, it’s no wonder the soul within Yan Yu betrayed him.”
Xu Mu listened to Charles’s感慨 and said half-jokingly:
“Why bring up the Gan Jiang Sword so suddenly? You don’t plan to betray me and become human, do you?”
Charles scoffed disdainfully:
“I don’t see anything good about humans; they are a pack of wicked and treacherous scoundrels.”
“I just hope you hurry up and learn your mathematics, then recreate my body!”
“Oh.”
Xu Mu pursed his lips, no longer engaging Charles in banter, as he felt there was something amiss with Yun Miaomiao’s words.
After a moment of thought, he asked:
“Commander Yun, may I ask who discovered the Celestial Tree Tomb?”
“And why would they spread the news instead of keeping the opportunity to themselves?”
Yun Miaomiao shook her head upon hearing this:
“We don’t know who spread the news. It just suddenly spread inexplicably.”
“Then everyone, with the mindset of ‘better to believe it’s true than to be left behind,’ rushed over. And after discovering that the opportunity was real, no one dug too deeply into finding its origin, even though they knew something was strange.”
Xu Mu’s eyes narrowed slightly, and he exchanged a glance with the Qiongqi.
A growing sense of unease filled his heart.
Logically speaking, even if no one could monopolize this opportunity, they should still try to prevent others from knowing about it.
But that mysterious person publicized it widely, causing a stir in the city and making it known to everyone. This was clearly abnormal, as if they were indifferent to the gains or losses of the opportunity.
“There must be a conspiracy, perhaps it was the demon god’s doing.”
Xu Mu communicated telepathically with the Qiongqi, concluding.
Indeed, only a demon god who was indifferent to everything would do such a thing.
But what was his purpose?
“Alright, Commander Yun, one last question.” After Xu Mu and the Qiongqi exchanged glances and understood each other, Xu Mu clasped his hands and said, “Could you please take us to find that Celestial Tree Tomb?”
Upon hearing this, a flicker of concern appeared in Yun Miaomiao’s beautiful eyes:
“I expected you would go, but it’s too dangerous there.”
“And I’ve already received my inheritance; there’s no need for me to go back.”
Yun Miaomiao looked apologetic, clearly unwilling to return to the Celestial Tree Tomb.
Xu Mu scratched his head, looking troubled.
What Yun Miaomiao said was true; she had already received her inheritance and had no need to risk returning.
Xu Mu scratched his head, knowing he couldn’t force the issue, as Yun Miaomiao was, after all, a domain lord.
“Alright, Commander Yun, could you tell us the specific location of the Celestial Tree Tomb? We’ll go ourselves.”
Yun Miaomiao was taken aback:
“Are you sure?”
“It’s extremely far from the Celestial Tree Tomb. It will take at least fifteen days to travel there, and there are many great demons. Even with your excellent talent and your mount’s strong bloodline, it’s very dangerous.”
“We’re sure,” the Qiongqi stated. “And I am not his mount; we are friends.”
Upon hearing this, Xu Mu quickly nodded:
“Yes, he is my friend.”
“Commander Yun, we have a compelling reason to go, and we can bear any consequences. Please tell us the location of the Celestial Tree Tomb.”
Seeing Xu Mu’s insistence, Yun Miaomiao didn’t say much more and directly said:
“I’ll draw you a map. Follow the route on it, and you’ll arrive.”
As Yun Miaomiao spoke, she waved her sleeve, and a rugged, realistic route map materialized in mid-air, looking incredibly lifelike.
Xu Mu spent three seconds imprinting it into his mind. Then, he clasped his hands and said to Yun Miaomiao:
“Commander Yun, the martial world is vast, and we must part ways here!”
With that, Xu Mu mounted the Qiongqi, and the two immediately soared into the sky.
As Xu Mu was about to leave, Yun Miaomiao, after a moment of internal struggle, quickly called out:
“Wait!”
Xu Mu raised an eyebrow:
“Commander Yun, are you perhaps willing to accompany us?”
“No, I mean, take this. It will allow people from my alliance to assist you when the time comes. It’s also my way of repaying your life-saving grace.”
Saying this, Yun Miaomiao produced a handkerchief from her embrace.
Xu Mu caught it in mid-air and found that it was embroidered with a “Yun” character.
Then, as if by instinct, he raised it to his nose and sniffed it.
The fragrance made his heart flutter.
Xu Mu’s face flushed with joy, and he said with a hearty laugh:
“Thank you, Commander Yun.”
“We’ll meet again!”
After saying this, Xu Mu, without looking back, rode the Qiongqi and flew down from the cave, slowly disappearing from sight.
Yun Miaomiao watched their receding figures, then chuckled, her cheeks turning red:
“He said he’s not a mount, but he’s riding him, isn’t he.”
…