The next day, the camp was bustling again in the morning. Many excited young men and women gathered to chat, recounting their thrilling encounters with spirit beasts and how exciting it was to harvest spirit essences. Charming laughter mixed with triumphant shouts echoed through the camp, brimming with vitality.
The people from the Liu Territory had already been led away by Liu Ming early in the morning, continuing their pursuit of Blood Butcher. With those killers gone, the atmosphere in the camp was much more relaxed. These students still found it very difficult to accept strangers who carried such heavy killing intent.
Master Mo and Master Xi did not halt this cultivation journey just because Blood Butcher had appeared. They only reminded their disciples not to venture too deep or spread out too far, so they could assist each other in time.
"Let's go, we should move too."
Mu Chen waved, signaling Tang Qian'er over. The girl gracefully jogged towards him. Her lithe figure attracted the attention of many young men, and also made quite a few envious of Mu Chen.
"Brother Mu, are you setting off? Haha, don't lose to us!"
Jiang Li and Teng Yong saw the two of them and greeted them with loud laughter.
"You guys? Dream on if you think you can win!"
Tang Qian'er retorted scornfully.
"Haha, Brother Mu, if you need anything, just give us a shout. If anyone wants to cause trouble, we won't mind getting involved."
Jiang Li said with a laugh. Mo Ling and the other young men who had fought alongside Mu Chen to gather Jade Spirit Fruits all nodded in agreement.
Mu Chen smiled back, waved his hand, and without another word, led Tang Qian'er out of the camp and towards the Northern Spirit Field.
Inside the camp, Liu Mubai watched the distant figures of the two, his eyes holding a cold, hard-to-detect glint.
"Boom!"
In the dense forest, Mu Chen flashed past, flipping his hand to unleash a palm strike. Dark spiritual energy surged from his palm, directly sending a low-level spirit beast, a Spirit Movement Stage mid-phase practitioner, flying over ten meters away, where it lay on the ground groaning in pain.
Tang Qian'er, who was behind him, stared in astonishment. Yesterday, he had also killed many low-level spirit beasts of similar strength with a single strike, but those were all based on exploiting dangerous situations and hitting vital weak points. This direct, powerful attack to kill was completely different.
"Your strength...?"
Tang Qian'er asked, bewildered.
"I ate a Jade Spirit Fruit last night and just happened to break through to the Spirit Movement Stage late-phase."
Mu Chen bent down to retrieve the spirit essence from the beast, explaining with a faint smile.
"Monster!"
Tang Qian'er heard his casual reply and couldn't help but exclaim in awe, then suddenly chuckled, lifting her chin to say:
"I'll also reach the Spirit Movement Stage late-phase in five days!"
"Impressive!"
Mu Chen praised with a smile, continuing deeper into the forest:
"Let's go. Next, you'll have to take action too. You can't just idly follow me; that's not good for your cultivation."
"Got it!"
Tang Qian'er replied playfully, then giggled as she followed him.
To the west of the Northern Spirit Field, over a dozen figures were cautiously observing their surroundings. Among them was a familiar face, Liu Mubai. With his strength and reputation, he naturally commanded great prestige.
Liu Ming had informed him how important the item stolen by Blood Butcher was to the Liu Territory. The Liu Territory had paid a huge price to acquire that item, so no matter what, they had to capture Blood Butcher and retrieve it.
"Young Master, we've found traces of Blood Butcher ahead, but that cunning fellow has already escaped our pursuit team."
A Liu Territory expert reported from behind Liu Mubai.
"Continue the search."
"Yes, sir!"
Another expert led a small team to split off, expanding the search area.
After tracking for about half an hour, just as Liu Mubai was beginning to lose patience, a sound of wind tearing through the air rang out. It was the special signal of the Liu Territory.
"Found him! Hurry!"
Liu Mubai's eyes shone brightly. He waved his hand, leading the charge, his figure darting through the trees. Ahead, a blood-soaked figure suddenly appeared, struggling to run towards them. On closer inspection, it turned out to be an expert from the Liu Territory.
"Where is Blood Butcher?"
Liu Mubai looked at the man and asked hurriedly.
"Young Master, Blood Butcher ran north. Should we immediately report to Third Master?"
The Liu Territory expert said hurriedly.
"North?"
Hearing this, Liu Mubai's eyes flickered slightly. Without hurrying, he waved his hand and said:
"Hold on!"
"Big Brother? What are we waiting for?"
Liu Yang, standing beside him, asked doubtfully, "If we wait any longer, what if that Blood Butcher gets away?"
"He won't escape. We've already forced Blood Butcher into a dead end."
Liu Mubai gave a faint smile and continued:
"Right now, he's just a trapped beast. Sooner or later, he's bound to die. However, before he dies, we should give him a chance to vent a little."
"What do you mean, Big Brother?"
Liu Yang was stunned.
"Mu Chen is in that area."
Liu Mubai chuckled softly.
"Huh?"
Hearing this, Liu Yang's eyes lit up with glee, but then he suddenly frowned:
"But we're not sure Blood Butcher will attack Mu Chen."
"Blood Butcher is very lustful. Isn't the little beauty Tang Qian'er right beside Mu Chen? Can that guy resist? And with Mu Chen's personality, how could he abandon Tang Qian'er and run away alone? So..."
Liu Mubai gave a sinister smile, his expression filled with cunning.
"Haha, Big Brother always thinks things through so thoroughly! If Mu Chen dies by Blood Butcher's hand, no one can say anything. They can only blame him for being unlucky!"
Liu Yang was overjoyed and excited. He had heard how brutal Blood Butcher was; if Mu Chen encountered that guy, he would surely suffer a fate worse than death.
Liu Mubai merely smiled, looking towards the north, and muttered:
"I originally intended to take action myself, but you don't have that fortune."
....
"Hey, Mu Chen, hurry and make your move! This monster has the strength of the late Spirit Movement Stage, I can't beat it!"
Tang Qian'er continuously dodged a fierce spirit beast that was attacking her, her black ponytail fluttering in the wind as she cried out in alarm.
Mu Chen was standing on a tree branch, observing the beautiful figure being chased by the late Spirit Movement Stage spirit beast. He merely chuckled and exhaled. Suddenly, his toes touched the branch, and like a wild goose catching fish, he shot down. His right hand clenched into a fist, dark spiritual energy condensing within it, transforming into a black seal.
"Beast, don't be so presumptuous!"
Mu Chen shot out, chuckling softly. The black seal, carrying astonishing fluctuations, fiercely struck the spirit beast.
"Boom!"
The spirit beast also roared in anger, its claws surging with spiritual energy as it lunged forward to fiercely clash with Mu Chen's fist-seal.
The spiritual energy impact swept through everything. A low growl from the spirit beast rang out as it was powerfully pushed back by Mu Chen.
"Thud!"
As its body retreated, Mu Chen swiftly turned and charged forward. He flipped his hand, taking out a dagger, spiritual energy coiling around the sharp blade, and mercilessly stabbed it into the spirit beast's throat.
"Splurt!"
Hot blood splattered everywhere as the spirit beast crashed to the ground with a rumble, the impact shaking the very earth.
Mu Chen landed on the ground, smiling as he wiped the blood from the dagger's blade. The tall figure of the youth, standing beneath the hazy sunlight filtering through the leaves, presented a truly magnificent scene.
"You hateful guy, you don't know how to cherish a beauty at all! You made me get chased by it for so long!"
Tang Qian'er grumbled resentfully, walked over to the spirit beast, used a short sword to slit its skull, collected its spirit essence, and then turned back to relentlessly berate her annoying teammate.
Mu Chen looked at her with a sly smile, just about to open his mouth to flatter her a little, when suddenly his dark eyes flashed with alarm. He darted forward, grabbing Tang Qian'er by the waist, and both tumbled to the ground.
At that very moment, a bloody hand suddenly appeared from the woods, snatching at the empty space where Tang Qian'er had been. Seeing his attack had missed, he let out a soft gasp of surprise.
Mu Chen, still holding Tang Qian'er, rolled twice on the ground, then quickly stood up, his eyes warily scanning the thicket from which the gasp had originated.
Right next to the spirit beast's corpse, a figure stood, clad in red from head to toe, with a shaggy, fierce face and cunning, slit-like eyes.
"Heh heh, kid, your moves aren't bad at all."
The man stared at Mu Chen, a grotesque smile on his face. His gaze then flickered to the girl beside him: her lithe, soft figure, her full, glistening breasts, her slender waist, a naive maiden's face yet brimming with youthful allure. It was truly hard not to covet.
"Who would've thought these backwoods would hide such a rare beauty..."
The man laughed lecherously, his eyes devouring Tang Qian'er as if he wanted to eat her alive, making the girl tremble slightly and hide behind Mu Chen.
"Kid, hand her over to me, and I'll let you go. Otherwise, you'll find my methods quite unpleasant."
The man in red sneered, his eyes, like a venomous snake, fixed on Mu Chen.
Mu Chen didn't take his eyes off the figure in red either, gripping Tang Qian'er's soft, cold, sweaty hand tightly. If he wasn't mistaken, the person before him must be Xue Tu, the Blood Butcher, leader of the Blood Butcher Gang, currently being pursued by the forces of the Liu Territory.
To think he'd run into such a vicious ambusher here, what a nuisance!