Mu Chen's hands searched Xue Tu's corpse. He had no interest in the bandit's personal belongings, but he was highly curious about the items stolen from the Liu Territory.
The Xue Tu Gang was considered a notorious force in the Northern Spiritual Realm. Although their reputation was terrible, their strength was only slightly inferior to the nine major territories, and they possessed considerable combat power. Normally, they would plunder throughout the Northern Spiritual Realm, but they never dared to encroach upon the nine major territories, understanding full well they were no match for any of them. Yet, this time, they had offended the Liu Territory, known as the number one territory in the Northern Spiritual Realm. Therefore, Mu Chen was highly curious: what kind of item could have made the Xue Tu Gang risk offending the Northern Spiritual Realm's most powerful force?
Furthermore, the actions of the Liu Territory's people puzzled Mu Chen even more. He couldn't understand why they had so ruthlessly massacred the entire Xue Tu Gang, even pursuing Xue Tu for a thousand miles without relenting, all the way to the Northern Spiritual Plains, still refusing to give up.
Clearly, the stolen item must have been extremely important. For the Liu Territory to value it so highly, could it possibly be an ordinary item?
Among the nine major territories, the Liu Territory possessed the strongest combat power and had always aspired to become the overlord. In recent years, they had used all sorts of methods to intimidate other forces, both large and small, causing their influence in the Northern Spiritual Realm to grow steadily, projecting themselves as the strongest power. Regarding the Liu Territory's expansionist and ostentatious actions, the other territory lords also had their own calculations, including Mu Chen's father, Mu Feng.
Mu Feng had previously maintained a distance from Liu Territory Lord Liu Qingtian. In recent years, the two territories had engaged in numerous conflicts, with neither side willing to yield. Although they would still exchange polite smiles and words when they met, they would absolutely strike a fatal blow if given the chance.
Because of this relationship, and because Liu Mubai and his brother often targeted him, Mu Chen naturally harbored no good feelings toward the Liu Territory. He was more than happy to kick them while they were down.
Mu Chen's thoughts raced, but his hands didn't slow down in the slightest. However, after searching through Xue Tu's clothes for a long time, he found nothing special. He frowned, wondering if the bandit had hidden it somewhere else.
Mu Chen still didn't give up. He stripped off Xue Tu's clothes, picked them up, and shook them vigorously. Finally, an object fell from the trousers.
Mu Chen immediately noticed a silver-gray bracelet falling onto the grass, emitting a faint silver glow.
Mu Chen quickly bent down and picked up the bracelet, turning it over and over, but found nothing special. He pondered in slight doubt, then his eyes suddenly lit up:
"This... could it be a Spatial Bracelet?"
The so-called Spatial Bracelet was a strange spiritual artifact constructed from spatial power, a rare storage tool. This item was extremely expensive; Mu Chen had only ever seen one person possess it—his father. He hadn't expected this Xue Tu to have one as well.
Mu Chen examined the silver Spatial Bracelet. He had heard that such items could retain the owner's spiritual energy imprint on their surface, allowing them to instantly detect if someone else touched it. However, since Xue Tu was now dead, that spiritual energy imprint had likely dissipated.
Holding the Spatial Bracelet in his hand, Mu Chen channeled his spiritual energy from his palm into the bracelet with a thought. A spatial dimension unfolded in his mind—the storage space within the Spatial Bracelet.
Inside, Mu Chen didn't find anything particularly special; it was a jumble of miscellaneous items, with nothing that could be called a rare treasure.
"How could this guy only store junk? He's the leader of the Blood Butcher Gang, after all."
Mu Chen grumbled in annoyance but continued searching patiently.
After searching for a while, Mu Chen's expression subtly changed. A glow flashed in his hand, and an old, dilapidated bronze piece appeared. Just now, when Mu Chen's spiritual energy swept through the Spatial Bracelet, all the other items had reacted to the spiritual energy, but this one was different; it showed no reaction at all...
Its extremely ordinary appearance, paradoxically, caught Mu Chen's attention.
Mu Chen stared at the old, dilapidated bronze piece. It was covered in intricate, incomprehensible patterns, the lines so complex that just looking at them made him dizzy.
The other side of the bronze piece also had patterns, but they were slightly clearer. At a glance, it seemed to depict a giant bird flapping its wings and soaring into the sky, with hills, mountains, and rivers beneath it, as if enveloped by its wings.
Wings covering the heavens and earth?
"What kind of spirit beast is this?"
Mu Chen was astonished. The bronze piece seemed ordinary, yet those patterns made him feel an inexplicable sense of dread. The spirit beast pattern, in particular, was surprisingly striking. It was just a bunch of lines, so why did it make him feel such dread?
Could it be a celestial beast?
Mu Chen furrowed his brows tightly. He flipped the bronze piece over and over, examining it carefully, but came up empty and could only shake his head. His intuition told him that this was very likely the item the Liu Territory was tracking Blood Butcher to retrieve.
But what was this thing's purpose? Perhaps he should take it back for his father to examine.
Mu Chen shrugged, intending to check the Spatial Bracelet again, when his expression suddenly changed. In the distance, the sound of rushing wind reached him, and judging by the direction, it seemed to be heading his way.
Mu Chen quickly put the bronze piece back into the Spatial Bracelet, slipped the bracelet onto his wrist, pulled his wide sleeve down to cover it, and swiftly redressed Blood Butcher's corpse.
No sooner had he finished than a few figures appeared not far away, and within moments, they arrived at the clearing in front of him. Mu Chen breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them; it was Mentor Mo's group.
"Mu Chen!"
As soon as Mentor Mo appeared and saw Mu Chen standing there, his previously tense face visibly relaxed, and he flickered to appear beside him.
"Are you alright?"
Mu Chen smiled and shook his head. Although his complexion was a bit pale, his condition was still quite good.
"I heard from Tian'er that you encountered Blood Butcher, so I immediately rushed over and finally found you here."
Mentor Mo, seeing Mu Chen safe, was naturally overjoyed, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his heart. But then he frowned, looking around, and asked:
"Where is that Xue Tu fellow? Does that scoundrel have a death wish, daring to lay hands on a student from the Northern Spiritual Academy...?"
Mu Chen gave a wry chuckle, pointed towards a nearby thicket, and said softly:
"He's dead."
Mentor Mo's brows furrowed slightly in surprise, while Mentor Xi behind him was stunned. Mentor Mo waved his hand, sending a burst of spiritual energy towards the thicket, scattering the foliage and revealing a cold corpse.
"Huh..."
Mentor Mo and Mentor Xi saw the stiff corpse lying there, their expressions shifting as they looked at Mu Chen in disbelief:
"What happened?"
Just as Mu Chen was about to speak, the sound of rushing wind reached them. Looking over, Liu Ming had already arrived with the men from the Liu Territory, and among them were Liu Mubai and Liu Yang. Both of them saw Mu Chen safe and sound, and their eyes widened in obvious astonishment.
"Xue Tu?" Liu Ming was the first in the group to spot the corpse, and his expression changed rapidly as he asked, "What happened?" As soon as he finished asking, his sharp gaze swept over Mu Chen. Being stared at by those eyes made Mu Chen uncomfortable. "Did you do this?"
Mu Chen met his gaze, shook his head, and said, "Before this, he was chasing me down, and I almost died at his hands. Fortunately, I ran into an old man along the way, who stepped in and killed him."
"An old man?" Liu Ming narrowed his eyes, casting a suspicious glance at Mu Chen. He waved his hand, and immediately two of his men ran over to Xue Tu's corpse. They searched it thoroughly, then both returned, shaking their heads.
Seeing this, Liu Ming's eyelids twitched. He looked at Mu Chen again, then suddenly asked with a warm smile, "Mu Chen, was there anything on Xue Tu's body? Did you see anything?"
"What was there?" Mu Chen widened his eyes in return, then smiled and said, "Just now, when that old man killed him, he also searched him briefly. But I was hiding quite far away and didn't dare to get close, so I don't know if he took anything."
Liu Ming's face instantly turned cold.
"Mu Chen, stop spouting nonsense! You definitely took the things from Xue Tu's body. That old man is probably just someone you made up!" Liu Yang roared angrily.
"Are you saying..." Mu Chen looked at him with a strange expression and said, "...that I killed Xue Tu?"
Liu Yang froze, dumbfounded and speechless. Xue Tu was a late-stage Spirit Wheel Realm expert, just one step away from entering the Soul Manifestation Realm. For Mu Chen to kill him was truly like a fairy tale.
Liu Mubai merely observed Mu Chen coldly, a sudden icy flame flickering in his eyes.
"Hahaha, Mu Chen, there's no need to play games with me. If you really took anything, just hand it over, and I will certainly reward you handsomely. Furthermore, I will personally visit the Mu Territory in the future to express my gratitude." Liu Ming spoke with a cunning, gentle smile.
"Third Master Liu, I truly didn't find anything on him. Just now, I was being chased and almost killed by him; how would I dare to approach him?" Mu Chen shook his head, his innocent face appearing extremely sincere.
Liu Ming glared, finally unable to suppress his anger. Although he didn't believe Mu Chen could truly kill Xue Tu, Mu Chen was, after all, the most suspicious person here. He took a step forward, raising his hand to grab Mu Chen, and coldly enunciated each word: "Since you refuse to tell the truth, I will search you myself!"
Mu Chen watched Liu Ming's hand reach out, then his right hand clenched, and a pitch-black dagger appeared in his grasp.
But just as Liu Ming was about to seize Mu Chen, another hand reached out and blocked him. Master Mo glanced at Liu Ming, his calm voice making Liu Ming stiffen. "Liu Ming, you're going too far!"