The moonlight was pure and bright over Sunrise Mountain.

Three figures darted through the Yellow Bud Rice Fields like swift arrows.

Their robust bodies didn’t so much as brush the Yellow Bud Rice, moving in absolute silence.

The one running at the front, Qian Mu, suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"Gone! How could it have disappeared?" His eyes widened, disbelief etched on his face.

"Explain yourself!" the bearded General Jin frowned.

"The Netherworld Worm vanished abruptly, its trace completely gone." Qian Mu hastened to explain.

General Jin’s expression turned ugly in an instant, "Could there really be forbidden traps?"

"There only lives one person nearby, and there are no traces of any prohibitions," Qian Mu said, his countless eyes scanning Sunrise Mountain.

"General, should I go take a look?" the third brawny man in black robes asked, bowing with his fists clenched.

General Jin’s face was seething with rage, but after a long moment, he took a deep breath to suppress the frustration in his heart, "Jilong Mountain is under strict surveillance tonight. If we approach rashly and something goes awry, we might risk being exposed."

"Our objective is to destroy the Earth Vein Spiritual Spring. It doesn’t matter if the Strange Demon is discovered, but we cannot be exposed."

"The pressing matter is to lure a Strange Demon here. We can’t afford any complications," General Jin instructed.

Qian Mu and the man in black exchanged glances and nodded their agreement.

The three figures disappeared as swiftly and silently as they had come.

...

Upstairs, by the window.

Chen Mu still lay in the rocking chair, intently watching the changes within the Five Ghosts Bag.

"Where did these Ghosts come from?"

"Could it be because of the pale-faced smoke creature?"

"It can be controlled by the Yama Emperor’s Command, and like the Ghosts, it manifests a smoky form in both white and black."

"These Ghosts appearing in the Five Ghosts Bag are almost certainly due to that smoke creature."

He couldn’t comprehend the relationship between the two, but one thing he was sure of.

That smoke creature—it could enlarge the Five Ghosts Bag!

Thinking of the enormous pall of white smoke that enveloped the entire Jilong Mountain, Chen Mu froze, "If I could swallow that whole mass of smoke, how large might the Five Ghosts Bag become? It might transform directly from a bag to the size of a Five Ghosts Cave Mansion."

"What a loss!"

At this moment, Chen Mu felt such heartache he could barely breathe.

"These Five Ghosts Paper Men are useless. For so many days, not a single smoke creature was captured."

"Otherwise, I would have discovered the function of the smoke creatures long ago, and wouldn’t have divulged the information to Mo Wuzhou."

He truly felt aggrieved, "Perhaps I should visit Zhongshan Path?"

The withering sickness was caused by the smoke creatures, and Zhongshan Path had declined because of it. Therefore, it was highly likely that smoke creatures could be found within the Dao Sect there.

"I don’t ask for much, just for the space in the Five Ghosts Bag to expand by two or three times more. Haha..."

After indulging in his fantasies for a while, Chen Mu shook his head and gave up the idea.

"That’s just wishful thinking."

Yunzhou was in disarray, with major Dao Sects expanding their territories. He dared not venture outside the mountain alone, as it was too easy to get caught up in dangerous troubles.

"This smoke creature seems to favor Dao Sect spiritual veins; I wonder if it will come to Jilong Mountain again."

Chen Mu held some expectations in his heart.

After thinking for a while, he shook his head again.

"Since Song Wujie knows about such creatures, Jilong Road will surely take precautions. It’s probably not possible to wait for smoke creatures on Jilong Mountain." Explore more at

Dispelling the distractions, Chen Mu delightedly examined the Five Ghosts Bag.

With the Yama Emperor’s Command in hand, he wasn’t afraid of the Ghosts inside the bag.

He took great pleasure in the significantly expanded space.

After toying with the bag for quite some time, Chen Mu put it away and once again entered the Underground Secret Chamber.

The battle at Jilong Mountain had interrupted his cultivation.

Now that the dust had settled, he planned to make the most of the evening’s experience.

...

Atop Jilong Mountain, in the Dao Sect’s grand hall.

There, in the spacious chamber, sat Song Wujie, now in a fresh set of clothes, cross-legged on a cushion, restoring his Vital Energy.

For quite a while he only opened his eyes, but his face remained pale.

Mo Wuzhou’s eyes were full of concern.

"Master, your injury..."

"It’s nothing serious, I’ll recover after some rest," Song Wujie waved his hand dismissively.

Mo Wuzhou couldn’t help but be astonished.

His own master was a high-level cultivator who had formed his Dao Embryo, ranking highly throughout Yunzhou, yet he had been seriously wounded by an unknown creature.

"That creature seemed a bit like a Heavenly Demon Path follower suffering from bloodline backlash, but there were also differences. Master, do you recognize it?"

Song Wujie’s brows were deeply furrowed as he slowly shook his head, "The Heavenly Demon Path pursues the purity of the Heavenly Demon Bloodline, stripping away impurities to return to the original state."

"This creature is different; I saw at least four kinds of Heavenly Demon forms in it."

"It’s like a combination of several demons merged into one, not an ordinary demon."

"Even you don’t recognize it, Master?" Mo Wuzhou felt a heavy weight in his heart.

Song Wujie nodded, "We’ll have to consult the Sect Master; his vast experience might hold some answers."

Seeing the worried Mo Wuzhou, Song Wujie reassured him, "There’s no need to be afraid."

"Although the creature is powerful, it has a chaotic consciousness, and its strength lies in its ability to hide in the void, making it hard to detect."

"Now that we know its traits, we can take preventive measures accordingly."

Mo Wuzhou nodded, feeling greatly relieved.

"Never mind that for now. It’s been more than half a year since I’ve seen you; what have you been feeding Yuanbao? How has its awakening progressed so quickly?" Song Wujie turned his head to look at the Cold Moon Toad standing quietly by his side.

Yuanbao?

Mo Wuzhou was puzzled, "I’ve only given it Essence Pills, which are just like Fasting Pills, that should be fine, shouldn’t it?"

Song Wujie stared intently at Yuanbao without confirming or denying.

But the large toad was squatting in place, not even moving its eyes, looking utterly unconcerned.

Suddenly thinking of Chen Mu, Mo Wuzhou had an epiphany.

No wonder Yuanbao was always running to him; it turns out Chen Mu had some method to accelerate the development of Yuanbao’s bloodline!

"Yuanbao, you’d better come clean, have you been stealing and eating the spiritual medicine from the mountain again?"

"I’ve told you many times, those belong to someone. If you want to eat them, you should tell me, and I’ll get them for you... woof woof woof woof"

While Song Wujie was in the midst of his lengthy admonishment, he didn’t expect Yuanbao to suddenly open its mouth wide and swallow his upper body, leaving only his short legs fluttering outside.

"You scoundrel! Put me down this instant!"

"Did you hear me, put me down..."

A series of scolding voices could faintly be heard from inside the toad’s mouth.

Yuanbao, however, remained utterly indifferent, with eyelids drooping lazily halfway over its large eyes, the epitome of nonchalance.

Mo Wuzhou’s face twitched involuntarily.

He had long heard that his master and Yuanbao had a somewhat strange relationship.

He hadn’t known before, but now it all made sense.

Master really has it tough.

Ha ha!

...

The white smoke creature disappeared.

The next day, within the Yellow Bud Rice Fields of Jilong Mountain, the rice showed visible improvement.

With meticulous care from the disciples of the Lower Courtyard, the withered Yellow Bud Rice had returned to its former state in just half a month.

With careful attention, this batch of Yellow Bud Rice would suffer only a slight reduction in yield at most.

During this time, Chen Mu had also tried multiple times to use the Yanmo Command and release the Five Ghosts Paper Man, hoping to find more white smoke creatures, but to no avail. He could only sigh, withdraw his efforts, and refocus on cultivation.

In front of the porch.

Chen Mu held the gourd Sword Box, as vast amounts of mana flowed into it.

With eight additional Talisman Spirit Seeds integrated into his Mechanical Technique, he could control even more Flying Swords.

Thanks to Sun Wujiu’s generous gift of numerous ores, he had enough to forge two more Vermilion Feather Swords.

It went without saying that his offensive power increased, but more importantly, he had two more sets of "eyes."

"Three Flying Swords working with the Truthful Listening Technique will make my sensing and scouting methods even more comprehensive."

"The earlier I detect danger, the safer I will be."

His spirit immersed deeper into the Sword Box, focusing more intensely on amassing and fusing the Flying Swords.

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