"That son of a bitch Su Mu, how can he be so strong?!"
In a dark, secret room, Chen Yougong slammed his fist on the table, roaring with a face full of fury.
"Master, our losses this time are too great."
Beside him, a subordinate said with a bitter smile, "Even Lord Cao died at Su Mu’s hands."
"Have you captured Li Ergou’s family?"
Chen Yougong’s face was grim as he asked coldly.
"We have."
A cruel smile appeared on the subordinate’s face. "His wife and daughter have been sent to the lowest-class brothels for men to play with. His father and son have been chopped up and fed to the dogs."
Chen Yougong snorted coldly, the hatred in his eyes not diminishing in the slightest.
If Li Ergou hadn’t disobeyed his orders and brought the Thunder God’s Roar to the Songjiang Prefecture Bailu Academy construction site, he wouldn’t have been forced to sacrifice an arm to survive.
To dispel Su Mu’s suspicion, he had thrown out four decoys, then deliberately had them confess the location of the sect’s branch outside the city to the Taiping Bureau.
That True Essence Realm Martial Artist, Cao Fang, was his sworn brother.
According to his original plan, Cao Fang was supposed to clash briefly with the Taiping Bureau, then escape from Songjiang Prefecture.
Who would have thought that with Cao Fang’s strength, he would actually fail to get away?
Damn that Su Mu! He’s just too strong!
The strength of his second brother, Cao Fang, was considered outstanding among those in the True Essence Realm, yet he couldn’t even manage to escape!
Damn that Li Ergou!
If he hadn’t already been executed by the Taiping Bureau, Chen Yougong would have loved to kill him by a thousand cuts!
This time, his, Chen Yougong’s, power base had been reduced by at least a third!
Even if he managed to become the Cyan Lotus Envoy, it would take an unknown amount of effort to rebuild these forces.
Fortunately, with Cao Fang dead, the trail had gone completely cold. There was no way the Taiping Bureau could trace it back to him now.
"It seems it will be very difficult to kill Su Mu by ourselves."
Chen Yougong said in a low voice, "All of you, lay low for now. When the fiends from the Demon Court arrive, we can use them to kill him for us!"
Su Mu had to die.
If Su Mu didn’t die, how could he, Chen Yougong, become the Cyan Lotus Envoy?
"Master, what about the Songjiang Prefecture Bailu Academy? Are we not going to do anything there?"
the subordinate asked, sounding a little reluctant.
"I will handle it myself."
Chen Yougong sneered. "No matter how closely Zhang Tongxiang watches, everyone has to sleep sometime. I refuse to believe I won’t find an opportunity!
As long as I can plant a few hidden mines at the Songjiang Prefecture Bailu Academy, they might just become our hope for a comeback when the time is right!"
......
「At midnight.」
Su Mu sat in his room, his eyes slightly closed, seemingly in the middle of cultivation.
In reality, he was staring at the system panel that only he could see.
[Name: Su Mu]
[Identity: Weapon Master (Concurrent), Silver-faced Killer (Concurrent), Governor (Fourth-Rank)]
[Points: 100,000]
[Realm: True Essence Realm]
[Divine Techniques: Indestructible Golden Body, Blood Body, Giant Body]
[Cultivation Technique: Unlimited True Essence Technique of Heaven and Earth (Entry/+)...]
[Martial Arts: Thunder Shock Realm (Great Success/+), Kan Water Realm (Great Success/+), Gen Mountain Realm (Great Success/+), Xun Wind Realm (Perfection), Li Fire Realm (Perfection), Archery (Perfection)]
[Phenomenon: None (Deduce/+)]
[Skills: Heavenly Craft Refining Technique (Entry)]
After working diligently these past few days, he had finally saved up 100,000 Points again.
Looking at the long string of plus signs on the system panel, Su Mu was faced with a difficult choice.
One hundred thousand Points could raise one of his Thunder Shock Realm, Kan Water Realm, or Gen Mountain Realm to Perfection. It could also elevate his Unlimited True Essence Technique of Heaven and Earth to the Minor Success Realm.
He could also use them to deduce a Phenomenon again.
Su Mu wanted every one of them, but his Points only allowed for one choice.
’Logically speaking, I should upgrade the Unlimited True Essence Technique of Heaven and Earth.’
After all, even Realms required cultivation to support their use.
The higher the level of his Unlimited True Essence Technique of Heaven and Earth, the more powerful the Realms he could unleash.
Cultivation is the foundation of everything.
But Su Mu felt a little reluctant.
He had already tried to deduce a Phenomenon several times and felt he was just a hair’s breadth away from successfully comprehending one.
One more deduction, and he might just be able to grasp a Phenomenon.
A Phenomenon is a technique for applying power.
Simply put, if a Realm allowed one part of strength to exert two parts of power, then a Phenomenon could allow one part of strength to exert five, or even ten parts of power.
If he had comprehended a Phenomenon back then, Taishi Tianbi would have had absolutely no chance of escaping from him.
Upgrading the Unlimited True Essence Technique of Heaven and Earth from Entry to Minor Success might let one part of strength become two.
In comparison, the Phenomenon offered a more immediate and dramatic boost to one’s strength.
But the biggest problem was that spending 100,000 Points to deduce a Phenomenon didn’t guarantee success.
If he succeeded, everything would be great. But if he failed, those 100,000 Points would be completely wasted.
’Should I gamble, or not?’ Su Mu wondered to himself.
’If I don’t, the hundreds of thousands of Points I’ve already invested will be wasted.’
’If I do, I might have to sink another hundred thousand Points into it.’
After a long moment, Su Mu finally sighed.
"I’ll take the gamble!"
He would absolutely gamble one more time.
Even if he failed, it would just mean spending another month or so accumulating Points.
Now that he had the concurrent identity of a Weapon Master, it actually wouldn’t take that long to save up 100,000 Points. If he was diligent, he could probably save enough in a month.
Thinking of this, Su Mu hesitated no longer.
With a single thought, he pressed the [+] next to "Phenomenon".
HUM!
Another stream of information flooded Su Mu’s mind, and he felt as if he had arrived in a vast, empty wilderness.