Chapter 127: Robbery

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As Li Mu headed toward the market, his mind was occupied with other thoughts. He could never have spoken those words about the Wondrous Void Technique, not even if he had been beaten half to death.

At that moment, he also understood the drawback of not joining a sect: obtaining information was extremely difficult. If he ever had the opportunity, he would certainly establish a complete intelligence network, something like the Earth Eye Agency. Even if it could not grow as large, it would still bring in some profit.

Li Mu did not linger in Southern City. After purchasing a large quantity of materials and low-grade spirit crystals, he went straight through the city gates and headed south.

He had traveled no more than a dozen miles when he noticed several cultivators following behind him.

Li Mu assumed they were people from the Earth Eye Agency and could only sigh. “It seems they were impossible to avoid.”

He stopped using the Sandstorm Formation and waited for his pursuers to catch up. Even if this was merely a coincidence, he needed to eliminate them at once, or they would become a source of trouble.

“Big Brother, I really saw him take out a great many spirit crystals to buy those things—at least several hundred.”

“Haha, this boy is quite honest. He even waited for us.”

“What are you talking about? Hurry up and kill him. After we finish this job, we should have enough spirit crystals.”

A rough-looking cultivator with a savage expression stepped in front of Li Mu.

Li Mu stared at them for a moment. From their words, they clearly were not people from the Earth Eye Agency. They sounded more like bandits who robbed and assaulted travelers.

“Did Manager Zhao send you here?”

“Who the hell is Manager Zhao? Pig Manager?”

A one-eyed man glared at Li Mu with an air of menace. “Be sensible. Hand over all your spirit crystals and magical treasures. Don’t force us to act.”

Li Mu exhaled, feeling much more at ease. They really were nothing more than highway robbers.

All of them were in the middle or late stages of the Spirit-Building Realm. In their eyes, Li Mu was merely a cultivator at the late Spirit-Building stage. In truth, however, he had already reached the Meridian-Refining Realm and could defeat them effortlessly.

“You want my spirit crystals?”

Li Mu smiled faintly and waved both hands. The Sandstorm Formation immediately spread into a ring before suddenly bursting outward.

In an instant, yellow sand filled the sky, spreading for dozens of meters. The men could barely see one another.

“Where is he? Spread out and find him!”

“Big Brother, this yellow sand is strange. Why can’t we blow it away with our Lightstream Fans?”

“Ha!”

One scream after another rang out in rapid succession.

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Li Mu emerged from the yellow sand and calmly surveyed the bandits before him.

They had all been bound by circles of sand resembling golden rings. Their bodies could not move in the slightest, and the magical treasures they had thrown lay scattered across the ground.

Li Mu slowly walked past them.

“You wanted my spirit crystals?”

“Bastard! What kind of technique is this? What kind of magical treasure?” the burly leader snarled. His face had gone deathly pale, yet the ferocity in his eyes remained undiminished as he glared furiously at Li Mu.

Li Mu’s expression turned cold. He moved both hands, and the sand rings tightened sharply around them.

Their cries of agony grew louder.

“Who are you people? Why were you following me?” Li Mu’s voice was cold and chilling.

The leader answered sharply, “I’m your grandfather! Why was I following you? Because you have spirit crystals!”

One of the thinner cultivators sensed that something was wrong and hurriedly said, “My lord, please spare us. We were forced to come. This little one will never do it again.”

“Shut up!” the leader roared. “I don’t believe he’ll really kill us. We’re all from Abyssreach City!”

“ A b y s s r e a c h C i t y? You’re from Abyssreach City?”

Li Mu was not angry. He was merely a little curious. The cultivators of Abyssreach City had been praised to the skies, yet now that he had finally encountered some, they were nothing more than this. They hardly seemed worth fighting.

“Afraid now?” the leader sneered. “Although we haven’t formally joined the city, we already have an agreement with them. Soon, we’ll obtain the Abyssreach cultivation manual and reach the Meridian-Refining Realm. If you let us go, I won’t kill you in the future. How about that?”

Li Mu shook his head. “So that’s how it is. At first, I thought you were merely pretending to be idiots. Now I see that you really are idiots.”

With a puff, a ring of sand shot directly into the leader’s mouth. It jammed his throat so completely that his eyes rolled upward, and he could no longer speak.

Li Mu looked toward the others. “Are you the same? Are you hoping to enter Abyssreach City?”

The two men said nothing, as though they placed absolute faith in Abyssreach City. Only the thin cultivator continued begging for mercy.

Li Mu sealed the mouths of the other two and questioned the thin man for a while. Gradually, he came to understand their circumstances.

Their stubborn faith in Abyssreach City was not entirely without reason. Like these men, many cultivators had remained at the late Spirit-Building stage for a long time. Given their natural aptitude, they had little hope of ever reaching the Meridian-Refining Realm through ordinary cultivation, and so they had been forced to seek another path.

At that moment, Abyssreach City had pointed out a way forward. It claimed that as long as they cultivated according to the method it provided, they would be able to break through successfully into the Meridian-Refining Realm.

In that respect, the method was indeed highly effective.

Many people were obsessed with advancing their cultivation. In their hearts, reaching the Meridian-Refining Realm was naturally far better than remaining at the Spirit-Building stage. As for whether Abyssreach City belonged to the orthodox or demonic path, that was not something they cared to consider.

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“Does Abyssreach City truly refuse to accept outsiders? What do you need the spirit crystals for?” Li Mu asked, puzzled.

The thin cultivator’s face tightened. “We don’t know about other places, but the man Big Brother knows in Abyssreach City really did demand five hundred mid-grade spirit crystals from each of us before he would tell us how to reach the Meridian-Refining Realm.”

Li Mu shook his head. “They really are a bunch of greedy scoundrels. Their demands are outrageous.”

Five hundred mid-grade spirit crystals was no small amount for Spirit-Building cultivators. That was why these men had turned to robbery.

Li Mu questioned him slowly. “Do you know where those scoundrels from Abyssreach City are stationed?”

His heart stirred faintly. If he had the time, he would kill a few of those villains and make contact with the Abyssreach City spoken of in the rumors.

The former master of the Flower Grove Sect had been persecuted by people from Abyssreach City, and Shen Bingxue still felt guilty about it. Now that he had the opportunity to help her settle that grudge, he could not let it pass.

The thin cultivator shook his head and looked toward the others. “They know.”

Li Mu turned around. “Whoever tells me will be released.”

The leader had stopped struggling, but he continued glaring furiously at Li Mu, as though he wanted to swallow him alive. Perhaps the techniques of Abyssreach City were truly formidable; he still believed that Li Mu was afraid of it.

Li Mu shook his head slightly and raised his hand. The sand ring around the leader’s neck suddenly tightened, slicing his head cleanly from his body.

The head fell to the ground, its eyes still wide open. Even in death, he could not believe that Li Mu had truly dared to kill someone from Abyssreach City.

There was no need to hesitate any longer. People like this were thoroughly deceived and did not deserve mercy.

“Speak. Quickly.”

The one-eyed cultivator rolled his eyes repeatedly and nodded again and again, clearly terrified.

The others failed to answer in time, so Li Mu killed them together with their leader.

“Mount Liyu? Very well. I’ll believe you this once.”

Li Mu nodded and casually took out several pills. “Swallow them.”

Seeing the fear on Li Mu’s face—no, on the face of the newcomer—the thin cultivator and the one-eyed cultivator no longer dared refuse. After a moment’s hesitation, they swallowed the pills, their bodies trembling.

“They aren’t poisonous. You simply won’t be able to cultivate for several years. Compared with what happened to the others, this is already lenient.”

Li Mu smiled. “Now hand over all your spirit crystals. After that, you may leave.”