Extreme Spirit Chaos Technique

"But when I felt your loneliness, I realized something in me had changed. My initial reason for staying with you was gone. I no longer wanted you to become a source of my power; I simply treasured our friendship. To be honest, even if Iron Armor Steel Fang hadn’t shown up, I would have had to leave soon. I would have gone on my own. I just want you to be happy."

At this, Mu Chen recalled how inseparable they had been these past days. They had chased each other, played around, and practiced their cultivation together. There was no competition, no plotting, no deceit—only... a sincere friendship. Lost in these memories, a gentle smile slowly formed on Mu Chen’s lips.

Hearing Mu Chen’s words, the sorrowful Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit suddenly lifted its head. It could sense something in his voice that it had longed for... sincerity.

When it saw the nostalgic smile on Mu Chen’s face, the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit’s adorable eyes began to twinkle like stars.

"Unfortunately, your old home was destroyed by Iron Armor Steel Fang and Master. But, with your abilities, I’m sure you’ll find a suitable new place to live very soon. From now on, you have to be careful. Human greed is the most terrifying thing. Don’t trust anyone so easily..."

With that said, Mu Chen turned around quickly. He couldn’t linger here any longer; he had more important things to do. If he could, he would have loved to take the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit with him. But he couldn’t. ’What is the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit? It’s an Immortal Treasure! Without a special way to conceal itself, its discovery by one of those Great Powers would cause an absolute uproar. The Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit would be doomed.’

Taking a step, empowered by Mist Step, Mu Chen instantly vanished from the cave. The Profound Old Ghost shook his head helplessly and floated out after Mu Chen. Only the Pangolin looked back reluctantly at the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit. But with the Profound Old Ghost’s intimidating presence, and having already given up its Soul Essence Blood, it didn’t dare to gamble with its life.

"Is this... really for the best? Without my Seal, it will be in even greater danger." The Profound Old Ghost sighed, looking at Mu Chen’s composed expression.

"But it would be in more danger with us." Mu Chen’s expression didn’t change as he continued to channel his Mist Step, moving even faster. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"Haha, you kid... you’re a good kid, just too stubborn. Ah, well." Elder Xuan chuckled and vanished into thin air.

Elder Xuan didn’t see it, but the moment he disappeared, a single glistening tear quietly slid down Mu Chen’s face...

"WHIMPER..."

The Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit, lost in its memories, snapped back to reality. But when it saw that Mu Chen was nowhere to be found, it panicked. Its tiny body scurried around the cave, searching blindly and letting out mournful cries. It had made up its mind. ’I’ll go with Mu Chen! I’m willing to become a part of his power, because no one has ever treated me with such sincerity. Instead of living in solitude every day, I’d rather be by his side and travel the continent with him... But by the time I was ready to tell him, he was already gone...’

"SOB!"

Tears burst forth, and a mournful cry echoed throughout the entire cave.

The leaves rustled. Mu Chen lay with his head pillowed on his arms, gazing up at the sky. Tonight, not a single star was visible; thick layers of dark clouds obscured the view. It had been five days since he and the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit had parted ways. Beside him, a campfire crackled away, the aroma of roasted Demon Beast Meat wafting from it.

Ever since Iron Armor Steel Fang first tasted roasted meat, it had fallen deeply in love with it. So much so that every evening, Iron Armor Steel Fang would go out on its own to find a suitable Magical Beast and bring it back for Mu Chen to roast. Mu Chen could only smile and shake his head at this situation.

But, for some reason, whenever he thought of the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit, he would suddenly worry about its safety. Scenes of his time with the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit would always flash through his mind at the most inconvenient times.

"SIGH..."

Sitting up, Mu Chen took a deep breath and shook his head. He picked up a piece of Demon Beast Meat and started to eat. After two bites, he suddenly stopped.

"DRIP..."

A cool drop landed on his arm. It was already late autumn, and winter was approaching, so the air was quite dry. Logically, it shouldn’t be raining. But when Mu Chen looked up, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled from within the dark clouds. Silver arcs of electricity and brilliant flashes streaked through them, occasionally punctuated by a muffled, thunderous roar.

"WHOOSH..."

In just a moment, a downpour began. The raindrops were huge, and in no time, they extinguished the fire beside Mu Chen. In the heavy rain, Iron Armor Steel Fang seemed not to feel a thing, contentedly gnawing on the rain-soaked roasted meat. Putting away the rest of the meat, Mu Chen called to Iron Armor Steel Fang and ducked into a large hollow tree.

Watching the raindrops fall outside, Mu Chen’s expression was a little dazed. The Profound Old Ghost, clad in a white robe, appeared silently beside him. Also looking out at the rain, he said gently, "Still thinking about the Sun and Moon Immortal Spirit? Don’t worry. If it really wants to hide, no one below the rank of Martial Saint will be able to detect its aura."

As if sensing the Profound Old Ghost’s appearance, Iron Armor Steel Fang gobbled up its roasted meat in a few bites, then obediently crawled into Mu Chen’s lap, closed its eyes, and went to sleep.

"I think so too, but I can’t help but worry. I just have a feeling that something is about to happen." His gaze distant, Mu Chen had been feeling an inexplicable sense of dread for the past few days.

The Profound Old Ghost was taken aback. Just as he was about to say something, his expression suddenly changed. "Someone’s coming. Be careful."

With that, the Profound Old Ghost’s figure flickered and vanished. Mu Chen was also stunned. ’In this downpour? Why would anyone come to such a remote place?’ The thought had barely crossed his mind when he heard heavy footsteps from outside. It sounded like more than one person.

"Hurry up, you lot! I saw that thing fly off in this direction. The Corps Leader said there’s a huge reward for whoever finds it," a gruff voice came from outside the tree hollow. Despite the rain, the men didn’t seem to be too far away.

"But Captain, the rain’s so heavy and visibility is so low. And that thing is tiny," another person said.

"Captain, there’s a tree hollow over there. Why don’t we take shelter first? We can resume the search when the rain lets up. The boss injured that little thing earlier. In a storm this bad, it must have hidden itself. We shouldn’t search blindly," said another man.

"Oh? Alright, then. We’ll take shelter there for now."

Judging by their conversation, they must be members of a Mercenary Corps, and there were at least three of them. Listening to the approaching footsteps, Mu Chen’s brow furrowed slightly. He knew the tree hollow they were talking about was the one he was hiding in.

"RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE..."

Following the rustling sound from the grass, three men soon entered the tree hollow. The one in the middle had a wild appearance. He was powerfully built, wore beast-hide clothing, and had a ferocious beast-head tattoo on his chest. Of the other two, one was tall and thin with a blank expression, wearing standard mercenary gear with a greatsword on his back. The last one was rather short and had a shifty look, with two daggers tucked into his belt. He was likely the assassin of the group, his beady, triangular eyes constantly darting about.

"Huh? There’s a kid in here," the shifty-looking mercenary exclaimed in surprise when he caught sight of Mu Chen sitting in the hollow.

The captain with the beast-head tattoo on his chest looked at Mu Chen with a cold gaze. Seeing he was only a Second Ring Martial Artist, he said flatly, "I’m in a bad mood today. I’ll give you three seconds to get the hell out of here."

Mu Chen didn’t say a word and got up to leave. With Iron Armor Steel Fang, he could find shelter anywhere. He was in a bad mood himself and didn’t want to get into an argument.

Seeing Mu Chen give up the hollow without a word, the man with the greatsword on his back roared with laughter. "Just a little punk, runs off after one threat. And he’s a cripple, too. I don’t know how he got so damn lucky to make it this deep into the Demon Beast Forest, or if he’s just been hiding here all along."

"Hmph. Forget him. In this world, the weak never receive any pity," the burly captain snorted.

"Exactly. But that thing we ran into today was really weird. A drop of water that actually had a human face. It didn’t seem to have any aura and was pathetically weak. For something so weak, I really don’t know what got into the Corps Leader, making us brothers search for it everywhere in the rain."

Just as Mu Chen was about to walk away, the short man’s words made him stop in his tracks. He spun around and asked coldly, "What did you just say?"

The man was startled by the sudden voice. When he saw it was Mu Chen, he became furious and cursed, "You damn brat, are you fucking looking for death? What I say is none of your damn business!"

Mu Chen glanced at the man and said coldly, "I’ll ask one more time. What were you just talking about?"

"Fuck you, you little bastard! A mere Martial Artist dares to talk to me like that."

The short man flipped his wrist, and with a flash of cold light from his waist, a dagger slashed toward Mu Chen’s neck. Drenched in the downpour, Mu Chen shifted his feet and easily dodged the attack. With a reverse motion, he tossed Iron Armor Steel Fang from his arms into the air. Primordial Power surged, and an arc of electricity crackled from his fist before slamming into the man’s chest.

"BAM—"

"CRACK..."

With a dull thud, the short man’s eyes bulged. He spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying backward like a broken kite, crashing into a huge tree and embedding himself deep within its trunk.

The attack was so sudden that the two men inside the tree hollow were left stunned. Mu Chen, meanwhile, casually caught the airborne Iron Armor Steel Fang and cradled it in one arm.

"Are you going to talk or not?" Mu Chen demanded in a low voice. Inwardly, however, he was also extremely surprised. ’It seems like ever since the Profound Old Ghost used my body that one time, my Thunderbolt Fist and Mist Step have both improved by leaps and bounds. But now’s not the time to think about that.’

Thanks to the Profound Old Ghost, Mu Chen had already learned the Martial Artist Realms of these men. Apart from the burly man with the beast-head tattoo, who was a Fifth-Ring Martial Master, the other two were newly advanced First-Ring Martial Masters. With his physical strength, which was comparable to that of a Grand Martial Master, dealing with a First-Ring Martial Master was more than easy.

’Who the hell is this kid? Xiaohai is a First-Ring Martial Master, and with his unique speed, he can even contend with an ordinary Second-Ring Martial Master. How did he lose so completely after just one exchange?’

The tall, thin man with the greatsword on his back was both shocked and enraged. He looked at the burly, beast-tattooed man with an expression of horror.

The beast-tattooed man was also stunned for a moment before he finally realized that something was wrong. ’A one-armed boy who dares to venture deep into the Demon Beast Forest... Even with Heaven-Defying luck, he couldn’t have avoided all the dangerous places he’d have to pass through. For him to be standing here so calmly, he must have something to rely on.’