A bolt of heavenly lightning shattered the trio's combined attack.
Han Qing and Qing Si retreated simultaneously, their faces pale. Lan Yu, clutching his chest, desperately fled the lightning's expanding radius, barely preserving his life.
The thunder slowly dissipated.
Xu Mu's figure gradually became clear.
He stood remarkably straight, the two lean bones on his back scorched black. The rest of his body, like discolored white jade, bore a clean, somber hue.
As the wind subsided, the dust on Xu Mu's body scattered, and the thunderclouds slowly drifted away.
No one spoke, yet the world was not silent.
"Thump, thump, thump!"
The sound of heartbeats, like muffled thunder.
Lan Yu and the other two stared at Xu Mu in terror, their temple veins involuntarily twitching at the heavy thumping, like two mountains colliding.
Drawing heavenly lightning to temper his body, his heart pounded like thunder.
Xu Mu's physical body had become strong beyond their wildest imaginations.
"Boss, I… I don't think we're his match," Han Qing stammered, his face ashen.
He had unleashed his full power just moments ago. Those vines, capable of easily toppling a mountain in the outside world, had been effortlessly shattered by a single bolt of heavenly lightning.
Their combat power was on entirely different levels.
Even if Zuo Mingqiu were here, would it be any different?
"Nonsense, isn't the result obvious enough? Hurry and get me out of here!!!" Lan Yu roared hysterically.
He clutched his chest and staggered away, resembling a wounded dog by the roadside.
But injured, his speed was significantly slower than usual. To Xu Mu, this speed was akin to an ant laboriously moving house on the ground.
Daring not to linger, Han Qing stepped forward to support Lan Yu, while Qing Si seized the opportunity to summon a square, exceedingly thin metallic artifact.
The three stepped onto it, and the artifact spewed out faint cyan energy from behind, drastically increasing their speed.
"This is a single-use artifact I exchanged for seven hundred merit points. I never thought I'd have a chance to use it," Qing Si said, his expression grim. He had come to the Thunder Pool, not only gaining no points but losing a considerable amount.
"Don't worry, you'll be well rewarded in the future," Lan Yu said, standing on the artifact. He took a pill from his spatial pouch, and after swallowing it, his pale complexion visibly improved.
Listening to the whistling wind rushing past his ears, the anxiety in his heart finally began to ease.
"This strange person is outrageously powerful. Even Li Yuan, no, even the strongest individuals on Xianyou Peak wouldn't be any better," Qing Si said, still shaken. His right hand was trembling, and his Dao Sword was gone.
Had he not discarded his Dao Sword in time, he himself might have been obliterated by that heavenly lightning!
"No matter who he is, I will make him pay!" Lan Yu declared, his eyes hardening with malice.
Simultaneously, he turned his head, his eyes wide, trying to engrave Xu Mu's appearance into his memory for future revenge.
But upon looking, Lan Yu froze.
He saw no one.
Had the strange person already left?
"Wooooosh..."
The wind in his ears grew stronger, seemingly mixed with a low rumble of thunder.
A premonition of dread suddenly struck Lan Yu. He stiffly turned his head, then looked straight ahead. He was instantly petrified as if struck by lightning, frozen in place.
Because Xu Mu was in front of them.
He had, at some unknown moment, appeared on a thunderstone mountain ahead of the trio, two crackling balls of lightning clutched in his hand.
Then, he hurled the lightning balls.
Lan Yu's pupils contracted sharply. He grabbed Han Qing and Qing Si by the arms, shouting in abject terror:
"Run!!!"
"We… we can't run!" Qing Si forcefully flung Lan Yu's hands away, desperately trying to control the artifact and alter their flight path to evade the lightning orbs. But it was futile. The two lightning orbs were too fast, several times faster than their current speed!
"We're done for!" In that moment of impending death, Han Qing produced a square shield and raised it in front of him. Yet, even so, he was unsure if he could survive, for Xu Mu's earlier display had left too deep an impression.
The latter possessed the power to kill them in an instant.
But they did not die.
Because above them, there was a dark thundercloud, and from within that cloud, a bolt of heavenly lightning descended without warning.
The lightning bolt, as thick as a bowl, possessed a power no less terrifying than the thunder they had witnessed in the Heavenly Tribulation Zone.
And it was fast.
So fast that before Qing Si could even change the artifact's direction, and before Xu Mu's lightning orbs could reach the trio, the bolt of heavenly lightning had already descended.
It was a standard lightning bolt shape.
It curved, then detonated both of the lightning orbs Xu Mu had thrown.
"—Boom!"
The terrifying lightning orbs exploded in mid-air. The lightning element transformed into countless strands, spreading outwards with hurricane-like force, engulfing both Xu Mu and the trio.
Moments later, the lightning dissipated.
On the ground, two connected, large craters had appeared. Xu Mu stood precisely at the edge of one of the pits, a hint of surprise on his face.
The thin artifact lay upside down in the ground, half of it exposed. Lan Yu and the other two were flung far to the side, sustaining no serious injuries.
"Who is it!"
Lan Yu stood up, looking at the ground before him in shock, then gazing up at the sky.
The thundercloud was just ordinary cloud cover.
Yet someone had summoned such terrifying lightning from it, condensed and descended instantaneously, saving the three of them.
Han Qing swallowed hard and said, "Could it be… an elder who made a move?"
Qing Si's face was pale; he remained silent.
"The Thunder Pool is a restricted area. Violence is forbidden."
"If you have something to settle, do it outside."
To the east of the Thunder Pool, a slightly weakened male voice echoed. Xu Mu and the others turned their heads and saw a youth in tattered Daoist robes, his aura extremely weak, yet carrying an inexplicable majesty, appearing at the horizon.
Xu Mu looked at the man, his eyebrows slightly raised, a flicker of pleasant surprise in his eyes.
"Zuo Mingqiu, it's Senior Brother Zuo Mingqiu!" Lan Yu exclaimed with unbridled joy, springing up from the ground. Qing Si and Han Qing's breathing also grew rapid.
Evidently, no artifact of any level in the Thunder Pool could provide them with the same sense of security as Zuo Mingqiu himself.
They would survive.
"Senior Brother, please save us! This person is a thug, he's been chasing us for a long distance!" Lan Yu shouted, waving frantically. Zuo Mingqiu then slowly descended towards them.
He met Xu Mu's gaze.
Xu Mu smiled silently, then used a Daoist sect spell to alter his voice, making it rough. "I didn't expect to see you so soon."
Zuo Mingqiu looked at Xu Mu, recalling the two lightning orbs he had held earlier, and furrowed his brow. "Who are you?"
"I don't remember you."
Xu Mu smiled. "You don't need to know who I am."
"But there's something I need to tell you. They were the ones who provoked me first. I was merely defending myself."
Lan Yu's expression changed instantly upon hearing this. He shouted, "You're slandering us!"
Qing Si quickly added, "Yes, Senior Brother, don't believe him. The three of us were honestly collecting thunder ore when he came to rob us."
Han Qing: "Senior Brother, you know us, the three of us are honest and upright people!"
Hearing this, Zuo Mingqiu turned his head directly to Lan Yu, his gaze piercing.
"Some things should not be taken too far."
"If there is a next time, I will personally find Uncle-Master Lan Qi."
Lan Yu, despite wanting to argue further, was silenced by Zuo Mingqiu's gaze. He swallowed his words, and then, bowing deeply to this Daoist Son, who was clearly younger than him but possessed immeasurably greater status, he said tremblingly, "Thank you, Daoist Son."
Zuo Mingqiu turned away, ignoring Lan Yu and the other two, and addressed Xu Mu. "Daoist Lan Qi has shown me great kindness."
"I will apologize on their behalf for this matter. Whatever compensation you require, please name it."
Xu Mu smiled slightly upon hearing this. "I don't want compensation."
"Their business is with them, it has nothing to do with you. As for you… I was looking for you anyway."
Zuo Mingqiu looked at Xu Mu and silently pointed at his chest with his index finger. Instantly, he was clad in a brand-new Daoist robe, his scattered black hair now tied up.
"You are looking for me, yet I do not know you."
"You still haven't answered me, who are you?"
Xu Mu took out an identification token and said with a smile, "I am a newly arrived inner disciple of Xianyou Peak."
"I need to discuss something with you. Let's find a quiet place to talk privately."
Zuo Mingqiu's eyebrows twitched slightly as he looked at the Xianyou Peak identification token in Xu Mu's hand, clearly not expecting this.
"I can agree to your request, but we'll have to discuss things later. Right now, I have urgent matters to attend to outside."
Xu Mu heard this and clicked his tongue with a hint of regret. "Then, after we go out, how will I find you?"
Zuo Mingqiu stated calmly: "My time is limited."
"Tell me which peak you are on, and I will seek you out then."
Xu Mu chuckled upon hearing this.
Even Cao Guang could guess that Xu Mu was Xu Mu, so others undoubtedly could as well. Therefore, not only Xu Mu's identity, but also his alias, Xu Mu, could not be exposed.
"Perhaps it's best not to," Xu Mu said with a smile, then ascended into the air and departed.
"It's time for me to leave as well."
"Zuo Mingqiu, we will meet again in the depths of the Thunder Pool."
Xu Mu left.
Zuo Mingqiu gazed at his retreating back, remained silent for a moment, then sighed helplessly as he looked at Lan Yu and the other two.
"You three have truly stirred up quite a bit of trouble. With his mastery of lightning techniques, he's easily among the top five on Xianyou Peak."
"And from what I can see, this person did not use his full power. Someone who goes to such lengths to enter Tianshi Mountain to find me likely has a combat strength not much weaker than my own."
Lan Yu's face turned ashen.
That strange person's strength is not much weaker than the Daoist Son?
Han Qing swallowed hard, looking in the direction Xu Mu had left, and said with regret and fear, "What kind of existence have we provoked..."
Zuo Mingqiu glanced at him, then shook his head and said, "Lan Yu, for your grandfather's sake, I will try my best to mediate when I see him again."
"For the next few days, you'd best think of how to atone. From his bearing and speech, he seems exceptionally proud. It won't be easy to resolve this matter."
Lan Yu bowed gratefully once more.
Zuo Mingqiu waved his hand, then turned and vanished like a streak of light, leaving Lan Yu and the other two standing dumbfounded.
It wasn't until Zuo Mingqiu had been gone for a long time that Lan Yu slowly recovered from his daze.
Han Qing sidled up and asked timidly, "Big Brother, what do we do about this?"
Lan Yu's face darkened. He glared in the direction Xu Mu had departed and said with a cold snort, "What do we do? Of course, we deal with him."
"I don't care who he is or what background he has, but this is Tianshi Mountain. My grandfather is a Domain Lord at the peak of the fifth stage, Daoist Lan Qi. This is our territory."
"He's provoked me, so he must die!"
...