Martial Star Ocean - Chapter 21 Inner Energy

Chapter 21 – Inner Energy

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Li Mu waved his hand. With the little girl attendant Ming Yue supporting him, he sat down in the central seat. He said, “What matter is there? Speak quickly.”

Feng Yuanxing bowed and said, “Reporting to the lord county magistrate, the Divine Orchard Gang headquarters have already been cleared out. The associated criminals have been jailed and their weapons, raw medicinal materials, grains, and so forth have been shipped to the County Administrative Hall, waiting for my lord’s guidance to process them. The county commander office and Zhou Family Mansion have been sealed up, but…” As he spoke to here he hesitated, not daring to continue.

“But what?” Li Mu asked, tiredly.

Feng Yuanxing clenched his teeth. “When this subordinate led the troops over, the county commander office and the Zhou Family Mansion had already been cleared out. Their possessions were shifted somewhere else and the core members were also missing. All that was left were some servants and maids. Some hidden rooms were also damaged. There wasn’t any harvest nor were there any clues left behind.

This was equal to saying that he had come back empty-handed without any merits at all.

In that instant, Feng Yuanxing trembled with fear. He feared that he would see the face of this young county magistrate darkening, and then this young county magistrate would decide to ‘send him along the road’ and shoot him dead just like how Zhou Wu and Zheng Longxing died…really, this felt as if he were in a cage with a tiger.

“Oh. For minor matters like this, you can process them yourself. If you can search it up then do so, if you can’t then don’t.” Li Mu said, lacking any interest.

When he killed Zhou Wu and Zheng Longxing, it hadn’t been to take their wealth and definitely not for their so-called secrets.

Feng Yuanxing relaxed.

Li Mu continued, “When you confiscated the property of the Divine Orchard Gang, were there any rare martial arts manuals found during the inventory?”

“There were a few basic cultivation method manuals found. From Sikong Jin’s body we also obtained one Five Poison Manual and one Energy Tempering Arts. These are nothing but ordinary cultivation method manuals. When compared to the supreme supernatural might of my lord, the difference is as great as the heavens and earth…” Feng Yuanxing continued to grovel.

Li Mu impatiently said, “Enough of the nonsense. Bring the books to me.”

Feng Yuanxing’s face didn’t have any sign of disobeying. He quickly said, “Of course, of course, this lowly official will quickly bring them to my lord.”

As Feng Yuanxing turned to leave, Li Mu suddenly recalled something. “That’s right, are there any skilled master archers in the county city?”

Feng Yuanxing turned back. He said, “My lord, your question is such a coincidence. Our county guard chief captain Ma Junmo just happens to be the number one ranked archer in all of Alabaster County. Do you plan on training in archery?”

Li Mu nodded. Suddenly, he violently coughed and spat out bloody phlegm. His complexion changed. “I’m fine. If there aren’t any other matters then you may withdraw.”

Feng Yuanxing’s thoughts stirred as he saw that bloody phlegm.

It seems that this lord county magistrate’s wounds were more serious than he first imagined.

He suddenly looked a bit worried.

With Li Mu’s current state, could he survive the retaliation of the Zhou Family and Bloodmoon Gang?

Zhou Wu and Zheng Longxing had been killed, causing great losses to the two influences standing behind them. They definitely would not let things go like this.

Feng Yuanxing left worried.

As soon as he left, the little girl Ming Yue leapt up in giggling excitement. “Young master, why did you cover yourself in chicken blood as if you were about to die? That brownnoser looked as if he completely believed it…hahaha, that’s right, how come you’re still coughing up blood? You aren’t really dying, right? Hahaha, you must keep true to your words and let me eat the chicken butt.”

“You little rascal…go eat your chicken butt.” Li Mu lifted his hand and slapped the little attendant girl in the back of his head.

This little idiot, was her emotional intelligence really that low?

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In the deep of night.

“Li Mu. If I don’t take revenge then I, Zhou Zhenhai, am not a man.”

Outside the county city, far along the roads leading into the Alabaster Mountains, an old man around 60 years of age was holding a dim lamp, letting out a shrill of harsh curses as he looked down upon Alabaster County City. He had a grim and sinister appearance.

There were several hundred people standing beside him.

They included the brothers, concubines, and children of county deputy Zhou Wu. All of them were part of the Zhou Family.

And this viciously cursing 60 year old man was Zhou Zhenhai, the father of county deputy Zhou Wu.

Everyone from the Zhou Family had thick hatred glowing in their eyes.

Originally, they led leisurely and opulent lifestyles within the county city. They did as they pleased, living the lives of emperors. But because of the arrival of this new young county magistrate, all of them were done for. They had no choice but to flee in a flustered panic and give up everything to suffer in the mountains. In particular, some juniors of the Zhou Family had lived pampered and spoiled lives and never experienced any sort of pain. As they were forced to flee into the night and journey up this rugged mountain road, they even formed bloody blisters on their feet and were bitten all over by mosquitoes. They were all left miserable beyond compare and all of them wished that they could tear Li Mu to pieces and swallow him alive.

“Maybe we should have stayed in the county city. That surname Li might not have dared to do anything to us. We could have used our connections to…” A Zhou Family junior said, unwilling to resign himself to his current fate.

“Shut up.” Zhou Zhenhai’s gaze was sharp and heated, just like an enraged lion. His eyes swept over everyone, forcing them to lower their heads. “You idiots. That Li Mu is cruel and merciless, just like a wild wolf. If he dared to kill my son then he’s already prepared to utterly destroy us, even if it means his own destruction. If we were to stay in the county city then I fear all of us would be nothing but corpses sitting in pools of blood. If you want to die then go back yourself.”

Everyone stayed silent, not daring to speak.

Today, upon hearing the news that Zhou Wu had been killed, it had been this old former Patriarch Zhou Zhenhai that had taken the initiative to move the people of the Zhou Family away, leaving Alabaster County City as soon as possible. Only like this could the legacy and bloodline of the Zhou Family be saved.

“Humph, I’ll allow him to be rampant for a few days. We will go to the Alabaster Sword Sect and find my big brother who just took the position of outer court Elder. As long as we can invite this master from the Alabaster Sword Sect to take action then we can easily cut that Li Mu into pieces. We will burn his bones to ashes and take revenge for the enmity of this day.”

Zhou Zhenhai viciously said.

“Let’s go.”

He leaned on his walking stick and cast one final vile glance towards Alabaster County City. Walking along the rugged roads, he headed towards the distant mountains.

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In the darkness, the temperature was icy cold.

“Zheng Longxing died. Hehehe, what a great death. A solemn ceremonies master received so many resources from the Bloodmoon Gang to help him rise from a piece of trash to Alabaster County’s county commander, and yet he somehow died to the hands of a mere teenage child. What an incompetent fool. It’s good that he died earlier so that we don’t have to waste any more resources on him.”

A voice like a night owl reverberated through the dark hall.

A blood red moon floated high in the dome above the hall.

The rays of light in the hall seemed as if they were flowing streams of bloody water. Over 20 martial arts masters knelt on the ground, all of them wearing the standard Bloodmoon battle armor. In this atmosphere, no one dared to speak, not even daring to take a deep breath. They all knew that the gang master was extremely unhappy with this matter. After accumulating power and prestige for all these years, there was no one in the Bloodmoon Gang who didn’t fear this mysterious gang master.

“But, this person killed a ceremonies master of my Bloodmoon Gang. If we consider this matter finished as it is then we will become the laughstock of the northwestern martial arts world. And our dreams of becoming a graded sect will also vanish into dreams…” The Bloodmoon Gang Master’s voice echoed out once more.

The voice was like screeching metal, causing the stomach to tumble and the heart to race.

“Since this Li Mu also seems to be someone of the martial arts world, then this matter will be easy to settle. Have someone send out news that three months from now, I will emerge from seclusion. I will go to the summit of Rooster Mountain and personally challenge this Alabaster County Magistrate Li Mu. We will resolve this matter according to the rules laid down by the nine great divine sects.” Within the hall, the voice of the Bloodmoon Gang Master echoed like a bloodthirsty Asura.

All of the masters in the Bloodmoon Gang felt their hearts tremble.

After going into seclusion for 10 years, the gang master was finally going to leave?

Ten years ago, the gang master was already a peak Concept Unity powerhouse. He had killed his own path forwards and was a ruthless man that all people in the northwest martial arts world feared. In order to lead the Bloodmoon Gang into becoming a graded sect, he chose to go into seclusion and cultivate an extremely overbearing and evil cultivation method. Now, the worldwide sect grading competition that occurred only once every 10 years was about to happen, and the gang master was about to leave seclusion at the same time. Did this mean that he had finally made a breakthrough and had complete confidence in succeeding?

It could be imagined that this ruthless man of the northwest martial arts world would appear once more, setting off yet another storm of blood.

As for that young county magistrate?

He would die without a doubt.

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“This little thing could be called a manual?”

Li Mu shook his head with disdain. He put aside the blue booklet.

After Feng Yuanxing left last night, he sent someone to bring in all the martial arts books that were collected from the Divine Orchard Gang. They were basically common street items. The most important of them were the Five Poison Manual and Energy Tempering Arts, which could barely be considered martial arts manuals.

Li Mu first read through the Five Poison Manual. He was left disappointed.

This so-called Five Poison Manual’s contents more or less involved cultivating poisons, countering poisons, using poisons to enhance weapons, setting up traps, using poisons to cultivate and kill people, and other such things. On the whole, all it recorded were unorthodox methods of killing others. For the short-term it could enhance one’s strength, but one’s achievements would be limited. Wanting to cultivate anything long-term would be impossible.

Although Li Mu had just started cultivating, he had been influenced by the various martial arts philosophies he had seen from the movies and televisions series on Earth. Moreover, the old conman had always taught him that he could not take the wrong path or use evil means. True strength was one’s own strength, not strength that came from external objects or poisons.

Thus, after flipping through the Five Poison Manual, Li Mu lost any interest in such a malevolent and unorthodox technique.

Then he started to read through the Energy Tempering Arts.

The first part of this book narrated the general outline and it aroused a bit of Li Mu’s interest.

“The power of the mortal body is weak, divine weapons are weak, the mountains and flowing rivers are weak, burning flames and freezing ice are weak…everything in the myriad of existence is weak, and the strongest power in this world is only energy. Energy. It exists in the power of the heavens and earth, and exists in the rules that govern all living beings. Without form and without color, without smell and without taste, it exists above the highest nine heavens and exists below the deepest nine nether hells. Common people cannot perceive it. Luckily, ancient sages appeared in the distant past, observing the Dao of the world and realizing the meaning of nihility to capture the power of energy within the spirit. They discovered the methods to draw energy into the body and obtain its strength, walking unhindered through the world…and now, the methods of refining energy have spread out far and wide. Tens of thousands of sects exist in the world and countless secret supernatural powers and techniques exist amongst them. But at its core foundation, everything relates to refining energy, and not even the nine great divine sects are an exception…”

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