40 Returning Home

As they rolled, the man and tiger unknowingly rolled for nearly a kilometer.

After stopping, Chen Mu looked around.

This was a canyon. There were only rocks and weeds around, nothing else.

"What happened to the supposed fortuitous encounter at the bottom of the cliff?" Chen Mu muttered softly and touched the fur of the black tiger beside him.

It was smooth and natural.

It was just that the corpse had turned a little cold.

Opening his storage bag, Chen Mu counted his assets.

600 spirit stones, a purple ginseng, some talismans, and also miscellaneous items.

He was indeed a little poor.

Thus, he began to peel off the skin, pull out the bones, and cut away the penis. Before long, he removed all the valuable parts from the black tiger's body and stored them in his storage bag.

After he was done, he quickly left the scene.

If he did not leave now, Senior Sister Li would probably come looking for him.

...

After hiding in a secluded cave, Chen Mu began to plan for this fortuitous encounter.

When he returned to the sect after some time, it would not be enough for him to say that he had attained the eighth-stage Qi Refinement Realm by chance.

It would be best if he could make use of this fortuitous encounter to officially gain a spirit physique all together.

Of course, he would only tell the First Elder and the rest that he had obtained the spirit physique. They would keep it a secret for him.

With that thought in mind, Chen Mu decided to absorb all the spiritual root attributes in the Little Assistant before returning.

It would save him the trouble of having his aptitude change in the sect, which he could not explain.

...

After checking the Little Assistant, he found that there were five attribute points of fire spiritual root in the storage space. There were one point of wood spiritual root, one point of water spiritual root, and three points of metal spiritual root.

Absorbing one spiritual root attribute took a day, so this was a total of ten days.

Indeed, he would return to the sect ten days later!

Chen Mu made his decision.

...

After hiding in the cave for two days, Chen Mu recalled the war between the countries of Zhao and Yan.

He could not help but worry about Stone Village.

There were still eight days left. Why not make a trip back?

However, would the sect send people to Stone Village to look for him?

At that thought, Chen Mu decided to absorb the spiritual root attributes and gain the Fire Spirit Physique before returning.

This way, even if he encountered cultivators from the sect, it would not be a big deal. At most, he would follow them back. As for the other spiritual roots, they would not be able to form a spirit physique within a short period of time anyway. It would not be too late to absorb them after accumulating enough spiritual roots.

Just like that, another three days passed.

The number behind the fire spiritual root went from 5 to 10.

Fire Spirit Physique achieved!

Without further delay, Chen Mu walked out of the cave.

In fact, cultivators at and above the sixth-stage Qi Refinement Realm had the ability to fly. However, he did not show off. Instead, he disguised himself as a mortal and sneaked into the caravan.

...

Two days later, Chen Mu arrived at Stone Village.

Compared to before, there was a huge and imposing stone tablet at the entrance of the village. On it was a line of large words: "Protected by the Azure Yang Sect of the Flying Bull Prefecture!"

Chen Mu felt a sense of warmth when he saw the line of text.

The Azure Yang Sect was very honest.

In the village…

Most of the familiar faces were present. Not only that, there seemed to be some new faces.

Actually, this was very normal. Stone Village was protected by the Immortal Sect, so the people from nearby villages without such protection would come here.

They could also marry into a family that was here…

The protection stone tablet greatly reduced the difficulty of finding a partner in Stone Village.

Seeing this scene, Chen Mu smiled knowingly and entered the village.

However, he still did not show off. Instead, he avoided everyone's gaze and sneaked into the village chief's house.

The old village chief was currently looking at a map. The map was crooked, and no one knew what was drawn.

"Cough cough!" Chen Mu coughed lightly.

"Who is it? You didn't even knock when you came in! You scared me!"

The old village chief turned his head angrily. When he saw that it was Chen Mu, he was first shocked, then he beamed with happiness.

"Cui Lian…" Just as he was about to call his daughter out, Chen Mu hurriedly gestured for him to keep quiet.

The village chief understood and changed his words. "Auntie Wang from next door is looking for you!"

"Alright, I'll go now!" Cui Lian's voice came from another room.

Chen Mu heaved a sigh of relief and smiled. "Village Chief, how have you been recently?"

"Great! It's been great! Chen Mu, it's all thanks to you!"

"Are you an immortal now?" The village chief sized Chen Mu up and asked nervously.

"I guess."

Before Chen Mu finished his sentence, the village chief wanted to kneel down and bow.

Immortals were existences that even the county magistrate could not disrespect!

Chen Mu quickly stopped him.

"There's no need for that. It's merely a bit of cultivation."

As he spoke, he looked at the map on the table and changed the topic. "Village Chief… this is?"

"Oh, it's like this. Recently, Little Bamboo County is expanding the army. They are preparing to build another school as a training ground for new recruits!"

"The county magistrate took a fancy to a field near the village and wanted to use it."

"They want to use the fields to build a school? Are they compensating you appropriately?"

"Yes! The county magistrate said that he will compensate us with food every year!"

Chen Mu was enlightened.

This county magistrate was obviously trying to express his goodwill.

If they set up a training ground near the village, bandits would definitely not dare to come.

Although Stone Village was protected by an Immortal Sect, some desperadoes were not afraid of death, let alone immortals.

In comparison, the school grounds were more practical.

The school grounds intimidated the bandits, and the stone tablets intimidated the cultivators.

Under the double protection, Stone Village was as stable as a mountain.

As for enlisting new recruits, it should be true.

The scale of the war between the two countries was likely to expand further.

Chen Mu thought for a moment and took out a stack of banknotes from his storage bag.

This was something his master had given him. He had not used much of it before.

"Village Chief, these are useless to me. You can keep them." Chen Mu's tone was firm.

The village chief hesitated for a moment before accepting it.

In the past, Chen Mu had come to his house for meals every day. He knew this young man very well.

On the surface, he was laughing and joking, but inside, he was very domineering.

Chen Mu continued, "Village Chief, the two countries are at war now. It's very likely that things will become more chaotic in the future."

"Hide these banknotes well. Don't let others know. Don't use it unless you have no other choice."

"As the saying goes, a man's wealth is his own ruin."

"I understand." The village chief nodded solemnly.

"If you see the county magistrate, tell him that I've returned and remember his kindness. If there's a chance in the future, I'll definitely repay him generously!"

The village chief was slightly stunned.

"Chen Mu, do you mean to leave now?"

"I'll leave after paying my respects to Master." Chen Mu smiled lightly.

Since he had entered the cultivation world, he could not be too deeply involved with mortals.

If his involvement was too deep, it would harm them instead.

The village chief wanted to say something but stopped himself.

...

On the other side, in the Azure Yang Sect.

Li Lingqi searched for a long time but to no avail. She could only return to the sect to inform Li Daoyi.

At the time, Li Daoyi was with Zhang Yan.

When the two of them heard this news, not only were they not worried, they were pleasantly surprised.

The two elders looked at each other and saw an indescribable shock in each other's eyes.

Destiny was too wonderful!

Who would have thought that this kid would really have a fortuitous encounter outside?

Was this the person destined to face the calamity?

Everything was exactly as they had imagined!

The two of them were indescribably happy. They felt as if everything was getting better. They wished they could drink and celebrate on the spot!

...

On the second day of Chen Mu's absence, the few elders began to worry.

They wondered what fortuitous encounter Chen Mu would obtain and when he would return.

...

On the third day, the elders began to lose their appetite.

Was this really a fortuitous encounter?

Did something happen?

No way, definitely not!

...

On the fourth day, several elders began to feel anxious and uneasy. They were inexplicably annoyed.

From time to time, they would have a bad premonition.

Why wasn't he back yet!

...

On the fifth day, the seven elders gathered on the platform again and began to stare at the mountain gate.

Those red eyes… were no different from back then.