Chapter 169 Seeking Opportunities in the Files

Chen Mu opened his eyes abruptly, a flash of golden light vanishing from his pupils. He rose slowly, his bones emitting faint, crisp cracks—a sign that his muscles and bones had become even more solid after being tempered by Calamity Power.

The first stage of the "Hunyuan Wuji Calamity Body" is called "Initial Calamity Body Formation." It focuses on tempering the Physical Body, expanding the Meridians, and solidifying the Foundation, forging the physique to a level of toughness comparable to the Heart-Awakening Realm. The second stage, "Unification of Calamity and Astral Qi," begins to involve a deeper essential transformation, with the focus shifting to Protective Aura.

Chen Mu looked down at his palm. With a slight movement of his mind, a wisp of Protective Aura appeared at his fingertips.

This Protective Aura was different from the previous gray, hazy color; it was a deep, reserved dark gold. Though it appeared weak, it was the product of the Fusion between Calamity Power and Protective Aura. The two had been smelted into one, transforming into true Hunyuan Astral Qi.

Once this Qi was formed, it combined hardness and softness, reality and illusion, making it both offensive and defensive, impervious to all techniques. A mere wisp, if injected into an enemy's body, would be enough to instantly destroy their Meridians and Foundation, or even erode their Divine Soul.

"Unification of Calamity and Astral Qi"—the name lived up to its reputation.

However, there was no joy on Chen Mu's face; instead, his brows were tightly furrowed.

Nearly 4,500 years of Lifespan had only advanced it by sixty percent. This rate of consumption far exceeded his expectations.

The first stage of Perfection had consumed a total of 3,300 years of Lifespan, while the second stage had already consumed 4,500 years at just sixty percent. To fully cultivate the second stage, he would likely need nearly another 3,000 years of plundered Lifespan!

And what about afterwards? How many more stages would he have to go through to reach the highest Realm of this forbidden technique? And what kind of massive Lifespan would be required to pile up for that?

Even with Chen Mu's resilient mind, he could not help but sigh at this moment.

The System he possessed was certainly miraculous, capable of plundering Lifespan through the power of slaughter. However, this plundered Lifespan was not infinite, nor was it without cost.

Every time he killed a powerful enemy, he walked on the edge of life and death. Every battle was a life-or-death struggle, fraught with danger.

More importantly, enemies would not obediently deliver themselves to be slaughtered, and the likes of Xu Changze and Wen Jingxing would likely not give him too much time to develop.

"I must be fast... and acquire Lifespan more efficiently..."

Chen Mu muttered to himself, frowning in thought.

Yangu Pit?

Chen Mu recalled the three Ghostly Creatures guarding the edge, whose aura had already reached the Heart-Awakening Realm. With his current strength, if he only skirmished at the edge and plundered the Lifespan of some low-Rank Ghostly Creatures, the efficiency would be too low. But if he went deep into the core to hunt more powerful Ghostly Creatures, the risk would be too high.

Those things that had been entrenched in the Yangu Pit for over a hundred years were definitely not comparable to those three Ghostly Creatures. Even though he had now deduced sixty percent of the second stage, he did not have much confidence in being able to escape unscathed.

With no results from his thinking, Chen Mu stood up and pushed open the creaky wooden door. A cold, biting wind blew in, dispersing the stuffiness of the room.

He paced to the well, scooped a ladle of cold well water, and cupped it in his hands to splash his face. Just as he was feeling refreshed, he suddenly noticed the long-dried ink on the stone table and remembered the backlog of dossiers Liu Ziming had sent over a few days ago. At that time, he had been restless and only given them a cursory glance; today, he could perhaps pay a visit.

Since it was a legitimate way to fulfill his mission as a Squad Leader of the Demon Suppression Division and he could also accumulate Lifespan, why not do it?

Having decided, he no longer hesitated. He immediately returned to his room to change into his Demon Suppression Division uniform and pushed the door open to leave.

The sky outside the courtyard was still early, and the morning mist had not yet dispersed. Chen Mu did not stop, heading straight for the Demon Suppression Division office.

He needed to review those dossiers and select a suitable target.

Yunmeng Demon Suppression Division.

It was still early, and only a few scattered figures could be seen. Only inside the duty room did there seem to be a candle flame that had not yet been extinguished.

Liu Ziming was supporting his head with one hand, while the other picked up the writing brush tucked behind his ear. He unceremoniously held it in his mouth to moisten the tip, then proceeded to sketch and copy.

Looking through the window, Liu Ziming's eyes were unfocused, half-open and half-closed. The brush in his hand was already out of control, the strokes twisted. At a glance, one might think he was drawing some sort of warding Talisman. He looked completely sleep-deprived.

Remembering that this was originally his job, Chen Mu felt a rare moment of guilt. He entered the room and gently tapped Liu Ziming on the back.

Liu Ziming jolted, and before he could see who was behind him, he opened his mouth to curse.

"Which blind little brat... Chen... Chen Mu."

Before he finished speaking, he hurriedly changed his tone. Liu Ziming quickly stood up and looked Chen Mu up and down. Seeing that he was no longer as impulsive and reckless as he had been in the past two days, he finally settled his mind.

"Ziming, among the dossiers you sent over a few days ago, are there any regarding strange cases in the surrounding areas? I'd like to take a look."

Chen Mu did not stand on ceremony and got straight to the point.

Liu Ziming's eyes flickered. As if he had seen a savior, he nodded repeatedly, turned around, and fished out several booklets from the mountain of dossiers.

"They're all here. In the last two months, there have been nineteen suspicious cases reported. They are mainly concentrated in the forests outside Yunmeng City, Fenglang Ridge, and... the few villages in the east."

Chen Mu took the booklets and flipped through them quickly, getting a rough understanding of the situation.

He did not choose the forests near Yunmeng City. Having been cleared by the Demon Suppression Division for years, there were not many powerful Yao Beasts left there. Moreover, most of the cases committed there involved devouring livestock, which posed little threat, and he feared the plundered Lifespan would be meager.

What he truly locked onto was the desolate Fenglang Ridge.

According to the sporadic records in the Demon Suppression Division dossiers and news circulating among the common folk, there were Yao creatures entrenched deep within Fenglang Ridge, and woodcutters and hunters occasionally went missing. The government had organized several encirclement campaigns, but they had had little effect. Later, they simply warned the commoners not to approach, but the level of danger was far less than that of the Yangu Pit.

That place was just right for him now.

"How far is this Fenglang Ridge from Yunmeng City?"

"If you ride a horse, it will take about two hours."

"Good, that's the one!"

Chen Mu picked up the urgent report and turned to leave.

"Hey... Chen Mu!"

Liu Ziming had thought that this great deity had finally taken pity on him and returned to help him complete his official duties, but it turned out he had just strolled around and was leaving again?

Chen Mu turned back, "Is there something else you haven't explained?"

Liu Ziming opened his mouth, but in the end, he was too embarrassed to ask him to stay and process the dossiers with him. He only said sullenly, "Are you... going alone? Do you want to take a few brothers with you? Or wait for Chief Qi?"

Chen Mu waved his hand, "No need. Qi Huan is still in seclusion, no need to disturb him. I can handle this matter alone."

"Oh..." Liu Ziming watched Chen Mu's figure leave the duty room doorway and could only shake his head with a bitter smile. Resigned to his fate, he picked up the balding writing brush and continued to sketch and draw.

Chen Mu went out and headed straight for the backyard stable. He had heard that after Liu Ziming was promoted to Squad Leader, he had been assigned a new horse, which was tied there.

It was a jujube-red Northern horse with a large frame and long limbs. One look and you could tell it was a good horse. Liu Ziming treasured it dearly and hadn't even dared to ride it many times himself. He usually fed it high-quality feed and groomed it until it was sleek and shiny.

Chen Mu did not stand on ceremony at all. He untied the reins, vaulted onto the horse, and completed the movement in one smooth motion.

The horse snorted, a bit unaccustomed to being controlled by a stranger, and pawed the ground uneasily. But then, following Chen Mu's soft command, it broke into a trot and headed toward the city gate.

Inside the duty room, Liu Ziming heard the sound and poked half his head out, just in time to see Chen Mu riding his precious steed and disappearing around the street corner.

"This kid..."

Liu Ziming cursed with a wry smile, though he wasn't truly angry. He sat back down at the desk, looked at the mountain of paperwork, then looked at the balding brush in his hand that he found so displeasing, and sighed.

"Being a Squad Leader... it would be better not to be one."