Bai Ze's Whereabouts

Changluo Prefecture.

Demon Suppressing Camp.

Su Mu sat cross-legged in the quiet room, silently refining Spiritual Power Essence. Around him, hundreds of clones were in various postures, some comprehending cultivation methods, others understanding divine abilities, all immensely busy.

Since learning of the existence of the great tribulation of heaven and earth, Su Mu had not left this quiet room, fully dedicating himself to improving his cultivation base.

Since he had chosen to keep it by his side, it naturally couldn't be nameless. Su Yu, that was the name Su Mu gave to the half-demon child.

In the scenes he had witnessed, the exact time of the great tribulation's arrival was unclear, but judging by Su Yu's state, it should be at least another ten-odd years.

Currently, the great tribulation of heaven and earth had not yet fully manifested, making it difficult for Su Mu to devise a strategy. The best approach was to adapt to all changes with an unchanging stance, using boundless spiritual power to cope with the great tribulation.

"Boss, I'm back."

Mist filled the air, and Su Shen's broad-sleeved figure appeared in the secret chamber. He glanced at the busy clones around him, a hint of envy flashing in his eyes.

"I truly envy you, Boss, to be able to split into so many clones to help you work. If only I knew how."

Saying that, Su Shen looked at Su Yu behind him with a bit of a headache, his eyes full of helplessness.

Hearing Su Shen's complaint, Su Mu slowly opened his eyes, couldn't help but laugh at Su Shen's appearance, and said, "I've already given you the clone method. Ma Qiong has also helped you find a wet nurse. It's you who insisted on keeping Su Yu by your side; you can't blame me for this."

"It's not that I'm worried the little guy's fierce nature is too strong, hurting others and making things difficult for you, Boss."

Su Shen scratched his head, looked at Su Yu in his arms who hadn't even grown a single tooth, and casually made up an excuse, saying, "Moreover, my clones aren't like yours, Boss, able to act autonomously. They still require my personal control, so there's no difference whether I keep him by my side or not."

After speaking, Su Shen suddenly leaned closer to Su Mu, his face fawning, and said, "Boss, why don't you just pass on your secret to me?"

Su Mu shook his head upon hearing this and said, "It's not that I don't want to pass it on to you, it's just that this method is only suitable for me. Your cultivation base isn't high enough. If you were to follow my example, it would easily damage your foundation, resulting in more harm than good."

Su Shen and he had a soul contract, making him the most trustworthy person in Su Mu's life. Su Mu naturally wouldn't hide anything, holding nothing back regarding divine abilities and cultivation methods.

However, his clone method required too high a cultivation base. One or two clones were fine, but if there were as many as his, the memories flooding back upon dispelling the clones would be enough to tear apart the soul of a Spirit Refining cultivator. Even ordinary Void Refinement cultivators would suffer soul damage and severe vital energy loss.

"Alas, I really want to go to Great Zhou again. Perhaps Senior Water Qilin could help me with something."

Su Shen sighed, but his eyes kept glancing at the Spiritual Power Essence next to Su Mu.

"You lazy bum, if you want Spiritual Power Essence, just say it directly. Why so much nonsense?"

Su Mu couldn't help but roll his eyes upon seeing this. He flicked his sleeve and threw a Storage Ring towards Su Shen, saying sternly, "Cultivation base is fundamental, but the cultivation of spell arts cannot be neglected. If you have spiritual power but don't know how to fight, you will ultimately turn to dust."

Su Shen nodded repeatedly, took the ring and carefully put it away, then chuckled, "These past few days, Ma Qiong often asked me to help deal with chaotic sea beasts, and I also encountered some tricky ones. There's certainly no shortage of fighting."

Su Mu nodded slightly upon hearing this. He was about to say something more when he suddenly froze. Then, he heard a burst of thunder outside the quiet room, and a man in a purple Daoist robe, holding a five-colored feather fan, appeared in the quiet room.

It was Zhang Zhi Wei, who had been out of contact for a long time.

Zhang Zhi Wei's sudden appearance startled Su Shen. A hint of vigilance flashed in his eyes, but he quickly reacted, and a trace of envy appeared in his eyes.

To play with clones to such an excellent degree, his own master was truly unique.

Su Mu assessed Zhang Zhi Wei from head to toe and immediately noticed the disharmonious feeling emanating from him, as if he didn't belong to this world. He couldn't help but frown slightly.

"Did Fellow Daoist encounter any trouble these past few days? Why was there no news at all?"

Worried that Zhang Zhi Wei might have met with an accident, Su Mu's main body remained in Changluo Prefecture, but he had sent Murong Zi Yin into the Ancient Battlefield to investigate. Unexpectedly, before Murong Zi Yin had any news, Zhang Zhi Wei returned himself.

Zhang Zhi Wei smiled faintly, pointed at Su Mu, and said, "You and I are originally one body. Why doesn't Fellow Daoist examine it yourself?"

Su Mu shook his head upon hearing this. His and Zhang Zhi Wei's memories were originally of two bodies with one mind. Upon meeting, they should automatically complement each other. However, now the two were like completely independent entities, fundamentally unable to exchange memories.

Seeing this, Zhang Zhi Wei also realized something. He pondered for a moment and said, "It seems it was still affected by that place."

Saying that, Zhang Zhi Wei and Su Mu looked at each other. Three flowers immediately appeared above Su Mu's head, allowing Zhang Zhi Wei to return to his position. The disharmonious feeling on Zhang Zhi Wei's body suddenly disappeared, and the connection between the two also returned to normal.

"So that's how it is, Fellow Daoist fell into another world?"

Feeling the memories transmitted from Zhang Zhi Wei, a flash of realization appeared in Su Mu's eyes, and he said, "However, this can also be considered catching the tail of the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions."

Zhang Zhi Wei sat on the lotus, looking at the bronze mask in his hand, and nodded slightly.

This mask was of the same material as the other masks of the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions, but there were no stars on it, only a strange drawing of a beast with a turtle body and a snake tail.

One of the Four Symbols, Xuanwu.

...

Ancient Battlefield.

Lightning flashed, and a charred mummy fell from the sky, landing on the dark red ground, shattering into countless fragments.

"Unknown ancient mummy detected. Retrieve?"

A cold electronic voice sounded in Zhang Zhi Wei's mind. He looked at the fragments scattered on the ground beneath his feet and nodded slightly.

"Retrieve."

"Retrieved unknown ancient mummy. Obtained [Immortal Mountain Relic Stone]."

Immortal Mountain Relic Stone, Heavenly Dipper Divine Ability.

Ten fingers are immortals, green moss covers the mountains; ten fingers are ropes, binding and moving myriad stones.

Having obtained another Heavenly Dipper Divine Ability, Zhang Zhi Wei was very satisfied.

After the incident in Bodhi Prefecture, Zhang Zhi Wei had been active in the Ancient Battlefield, on one hand investigating Bai Ze's whereabouts, and on the other hand searching for demonic creatures active in the battlefield.

Of course, more importantly, he was transforming the things in this Ancient Battlefield into his true strength.

Although not as focused as Murong Zi Yin in the Binding Prison, as Zhang Zhi Wei delved deeper, his gains became increasingly abundant.

Taking Ominous Entities as an example, including the one just now, this was the third one he had encountered today. Compared to the commonly seen Evil Entities, this ratio could be said to be rare.

"Has it entered the activity range of Ominous Entities?"

Zhang Zhi Wei offered a relatively reasonable explanation. He was about to continue delving deeper when he noticed a figure flash and disappear not far away, then completely vanish.

Zhang Zhi Wei frowned slightly upon seeing this. He swept his Divine Sense, but couldn't find a trace of aura.

Did he see wrong?

Zhang Zhi Wei frowned and pursued in the direction the figure had disappeared.

Although the opponent moved very fast, Zhang Zhi Wei still caught a glimpse of their face.

Bai Ze.