“I wonder what lineage you come from, young friend. To possess such skill at such a young age, you truly are a hero born in a young body.”
Mu Chen retracted his aura, making it impossible for Jiu Shu to discern his cultivation realm.
However, Qiu Sheng was his disciple after all, and unlike Wen Cai, Qiu Sheng possessed excellent aptitude for cultivation. His cultivation was not bad compared to his peers.
Mu Chen was even younger than Qiu Sheng, yet he was able to defeat Qiu Sheng like this despite Qiu Sheng’s surprise attack. This showed his extraordinary talent.
“This Daoist is Mu Chen. I received the great favor of the 64th generation Heavenly Master of Longhu Mountain and was accepted as a disciple, granted the Daoist name Pure Yang.”
Mu Chen’s voice was gentle and warm, like a spring breeze.
But to Jiu Shu’s ears, it caused him to be exceptionally shocked.
“Dao…Dao Brother, you are the former prodigy of Longhu Mountain?!”
Longhu Mountain had the Taiqing Temple, which housed the Immortal Bell.
All those who entered the sect had to be tested for their aptitude here, even major Xuanmen sects like Maoshan and Geshao Mountain would pay a hefty sum to bring their disciples here for testing.
The Immortal Bell had seven rings. The more rings, the better the aptitude.
One ring was for ordinary aptitude, one in a thousand.
Two rings was one in ten thousand, considered a pseudo-genius.
Three rings was one in a hundred thousand, worthy of the title of a minor genius.
Four rings was one in a million, truly deserving of the title of genius.
Five rings was one in a hundred years, a prodigy. Jiu Shu and Shi Jian, the two contenders for the next Maoshan sect leader, belonged to this category.
Six rings was one in a thousand years, each with the potential to establish a lineage, like Zhang Daoling, the Heavenly Master, the Three Mao True Monarch of Maoshan, Lü Dongbin of Pure Yang, and Chen Tuan, the Sleeping Ancestor.
The highest, seven rings, had never appeared in the last two thousand years.
But when Mu Chen entered Longhu Mountain for testing, the Immortal Bell rang nine times, accompanied by auspicious signs of purple energy rising in the east and cranes celebrating together!
This aptitude shocked the entire cultivation world.
Many elders, even the Grand Elders, of Longhu Mountain vied for him, but ultimately it was the current Heavenly Master who was more skilled. He invited the previous Heavenly Master, who held a post in the Underworld, to make the final decision and allowed him to become his disciple.
Over the years, various Xuanmen sects had not given up on investigating his cultivation progress, but Longhu Mountain protected him very well. No one knew what realm he had reached in his cultivation.
Mu Chen nodded, then shook his head, “No need, Dao Brother. Call me Dao Friend.”
Jiu Shu shook his head and refused, “Etiquette cannot be discarded. Ever since Longhu Mountain saved the Xuanmen during times of crisis for hundreds of years, Yimei dare not overstep.”
During the Tang Dynasty, Buddhism was introduced from the east and became increasingly prosperous, leaving Daoism on the brink of extinction. It was Zhang Daoling, the first Heavenly Master of Longhu Mountain, this amiable Daoist elder, who personally went to various Buddhist temples to debate with them.
Since then, among the hundred schools of Daoism, Longhu has been supreme.
Other lineages would bow their heads when they saw Longhu Mountain disciples, elders would call them ‘Uncle’ and peers would address them as ‘Dao Brother.’
After several attempts to decline, Jiu Shu remained firm. Mu Chen could only comply.
“Dao Friend Yimei, I was entrusted by the Ren family to resolve the unfavorable feng shui. Unexpectedly, I discovered a problem with their ancestral grave…”
“Someone is raising corpses!”
“Someone is raising corpses?”
The last five words were spoken by both of them simultaneously.
Mu Chen was surprised, “Dao Friend knows of this?”
Jiu Shu nodded, “I discovered it ten years ago when I first arrived in Renjia Town. To find the one behind raising the corpses, I have kept this a secret all these years. To avoid attracting the notice of the evil path, I rarely went to check.”
“I see.”
Mu Chen nodded. The biggest bug in the original movie was that Jiu Shu had been in Renjia Town for so many years, yet he didn’t notice the presence of a slumbering zombie in the town’s cemetery.
This explained that bug.
“Dao Brother’s visit tonight is not just for my foolish disciples and this matter, is it?”
“Yes.”
Mu Chen nodded and said in a deep voice, “I went up the mountain today and discovered that Old Master Ren is about to reach his peak. He is almost about to break through to Silver Armored Corpse.”
“What?!”
Jiu Shu’s pupils contracted. Zombies’ combat power was already beyond that of cultivators at the same level. Even a Copper Armored Corpse at seven or eight levels, he found it difficult to deal with. What about a Copper Armored Corpse at nine levels?
He took a deep breath to suppress the shock in his heart, then muttered in confusion, “I checked last year, he was only a Copper Armored Corpse at four levels. Even if the agreed twenty years are up, he should only reach five levels. How could he become so strong?”
Mu Chen sighed and dropped another bombshell, “I cut the qi veins of the corpse raising place tonight and discovered someone is nourishing the corpse with Ten Thousand Child Blood.”
Jiu Shu suddenly looked up, his face full of reluctance, “Is it the Ten Thousand Child Blood I’m thinking of?”
As a direct descendant of Maoshan and a renowned figure in Xuanmen, Jiu Shu naturally knew how such cruel methods were used to refine Ten Thousand Child Blood.
Mu Chen nodded slightly, “Yes.”
After hearing this, Jiu Shu closed his eyes and a look of reluctance crossed his face. When he opened his eyes again, his expression was cold and firm. “This evil path cannot be left unchecked. It would be unbearable for the wronged souls, and my Dao heart would be uneasy!”
“Thank you, Dao Brother, for informing me of this. I will immediately send a message to my sect for reinforcements. First, we will deal with the zombie, then we will take care of the evil path!”
Mu Chen waved his hand, “Dao Friend, don’t be hasty. A large-scale mobilization would only alert them. I observe that the Ten Thousand Child Blood zombie has not fully digested it. The evil path will not be far.”
“We can…”
Mu Chen revealed the most important purpose of his visit to the Yi庄 tonight—to devise a plan to lure out the corpse raiser and eliminate him along with the zombie!
After listening to Mu Chen’s plan, Jiu Shu looked uncertain, “Can just you and I handle this? It’s not that I don’t trust Dao Brother, but the enemy is too formidable.”
“The zombie alone is a huge problem, let alone adding a corpse raiser who can and dares to cultivate the zombie to such a level…”
Even though Mu Chen’s reputation as a prodigy spread throughout Xuanmen, he was still too young, and his cultivation time was comparable to that of Wen Cai and Qiu Sheng.
Jiu Shu really had no confidence.
Seeing Jiu Shu’s hesitation, Mu Chen smiled slightly, “Dao Friend, why don’t you open your eyes and take a look at this Daoist?”