Eternal Life Begins with Learning

"Watch out!"

Amid the standoff, the black threads swirling within the room abruptly changed course, surging toward the crowd in the hallway who were still slow to react.

The fine black threads were like a volley of whistling arrows. In an instant, they were right before their eyes.

Chu Mu’s thoughts stirred subconsciously. The Qi Blood from his nascent cultivation surged, and a searing heat washed over his body. The black threads were inches away, yet they could not advance.

Cold sweat instantly soaked his back. Chu Mu stared at the black threads before his eyes, not daring to breathe.

This close, the nature of the black threads was all too clear.

"Black threads" didn’t seem like an accurate description. They were more like wisps of black smoke from something burning, and they writhed and spun as if they were alive.

"AHH—"

Before Chu Mu could even feel relieved, a series of blood-curdling screams erupted from the hallway. In the blink of an eye, vibrant lives were turned into horrifying, desiccated corpses by the surging black threads.

He didn’t know if it was his imagination, but Chu Mu could have sworn that as the slaughter continued, the swirling black threads seemed to have grown stronger.

But perhaps because he was resisting their corrosion, several more threads gathered before him within a few breaths.

Chu Mu gritted his teeth and swung his saber. The blade met nothing, passing through the black threads as if they were empty air.

Then, as if he’d thought of something, Chu Mu dropped his sword. He gathered the surging Qi Blood in his palm and threw a punch.

He had been prepared for his fist to pass right through, but to his surprise, punching the black threads—which looked like they could be blown away by a single breath—felt like hitting an iron plate.

A terrifying rebound force shot up his arm, knocking him back several steps.

But the wisp of black thread he had struck seemed to have... dissipated slightly. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Chu Mu froze for a moment, then was overjoyed. Just as he was about to speak, Li Jinghong’s voice rang out again.

"This is the lowest level of Resentful Soul! It fears Qi Blood. None of you need to be afraid! Don’t use your weapons. Attack it directly with your Qi Blood!"

With a shout, Li Jinghong took the lead, charging out from behind the other Inspectors protecting him and throwing a punch at the swirling black threads.

Compared to Chu Mu, who had been embarrassingly knocked back several steps, Li Jinghong’s punch caused the wisp of black thread to explode and vanish completely.

Seeing this, and hearing Li Jinghong’s words, the terrified Inspectors, who had been on the verge of breaking, began to fight back one by one.

Thanks to Fengyue Tower being such a money pit, most of the Inspectors who could afford to come here had some status, and most had some training in Martial Arts.

Furthermore, the Inspectors Li Jinghong had brought with him were the elite of his Personal Guard, all of them skilled practitioners accomplished in Qi and Blood Cultivation.

Under their continuous attacks, the black threads exploded and shattered one after another until they were forced to coalesce back into a single black shadow.

Only then did Chu Mu get a clear look at the shadow’s true form.

A person!

A humanoid black shadow, shrouded in mist and only faintly visible.

Combined with what Li Jinghong had just said about a Resentful Soul...

It was obvious what this humanoid shadow was.

"Don’t let it get away!"

Li Jinghong seemed to sense something. With another shout, he charged unhesitatingly toward the shadow.

But the shadow was clearly faster. It flickered toward the wall and phased right through it, vanishing without a trace.

"A Resentful Soul has no consciousness. Someone is controlling it!"

"This person doesn’t dare show their face, they must be afraid of us..."

"Don’t let them get away!"

"After them! With me!"

With that, Li Jinghong once again uncharacteristically took the lead, leaping directly from the windowsill and chasing after the shadow in the direction it had disappeared.

Seeing this, the other Inspectors hesitated but didn’t dare delay for too long. Huddling in small groups, some jumped from the windowsill just like Li Jinghong, while others went out the door and down the stairs, clearly stalling for time.

Chu Mu picked up the Long Saber he had dropped. After sheathing it, he hesitated for a moment before finally following the group heading downstairs, keeping close behind them.

Just as he stepped out of Fengyue Tower, Chu Mu saw Xu Yuan peeking around outside the entrance. When Xu Yuan saw him, he hurried over, his Big Mouth running a mile a minute.

"Brother Mu? What’s going on?"

"Don’t talk. Just follow."

Chu Mu shook his head. In a situation like this, he was in no mood to explain.

In fact, he wouldn’t even know how to begin!

A trip to Fengyue Tower was supposed to be for feasting and fun, but it had turned into this mess!

’A Resentful Soul?’

Even now, Chu Mu’s mind was still reeling.

’The tales of gods and ghosts... they’re actually real?’

’If there are ghosts... does that mean there are also Gods? Immortals? Demons? Devils?’

’So... this era, this world I’ve come to, isn’t just a mortal world with rudimentary Martial Arts, but a world where true Extraordinary Power exists?’

At this thought, Chu Mu found it hard to breathe.

’In the face of such things, my meager position as a team leader, my beginner-level Martial Arts... they’re completely insignificant.’

The small sense of security he had gained from his recent promotion and progress in Martial Arts vanished in an instant.

Chu Mu subconsciously tightened his grip on his Long Saber, but he quickly recalled the sight of his blade passing through empty air.

In that moment, the sense of urgency in Chu Mu’s heart intensified.

"Stop, you little thief!"

As Chu Mu’s mind raced, a shout erupted from a nearby alley. Immediately after, a figure leaped into the air, bounded across the long street, and began sprinting across the rooftops, moving with nimble grace.

Li Jinghong was right behind him, with several Inspectors and Personal Guards in pursuit.

"After him!"

Everyone loves to kick a man when he’s down.

Seeing this, the Inspectors who had been dragging their feet were suddenly energized, shouting as they chased after the fleeing figure.

’It’s him?’

Chu Mu’s brow twitched as he watched the sprinting, black-clad figure. He found it hard to believe.

The fugitive was none other than the young man he had first fought in the dense forest!

If his memory served him right, that young man had been surrounded by several Inspectors, suffered multiple stab wounds, and was on the brink of death!

Although he was eventually rescued, with injuries that severe, even with a skilled doctor’s care, he should have been crippled for life, if not dead!

But in just over half a month...

’His wounds have fully healed... and now he’s even conjured a Resentful Soul?’

Subconsciously, Chu Mu’s mind drifted back to the small courtyard he had seen in Qili Village, and to that... old man who was over 120 years old...

The clues surfaced one by one, finally forming a rough outline. Chu Mu was beginning to understand.

’Could an ordinary person teach dozens of Martial Arts experts in just a few short years?’

’Could an ordinary person... live to be over 120... and have their corpse remain uncorrupted after death, as if still alive?’

That old man... was clearly no ordinary person. It was highly likely he was a being who had truly come into contact with, or even stepped into, that genuine Extraordinary World...

...