Southern Ming Lihuo

The Underground Palace at the bottom of the lake.

Su Mu sat cross-legged at the entrance, quietly examining the memories harvested from the semi-finished Hanba.

Like the original maiden, these Hanba were all refined from Extreme Yin Maidens, and most of them came from pleasure houses.

Maidens with Extreme Yin Constitutions mostly possessed innate charm. If born into wealthy families, it was one thing, but if from poor and desperate families, pleasure houses were the only path for the majority of them.

Zhang Yu was clearly a cautious individual, specializing in selecting maidens from pleasure houses. Firstly, it was not easy to attract attention, and secondly, finding Extreme Yin Maidens in pleasure houses was much easier.

However, being able to find so many Extreme Yin Maidens, relying solely on Zhang Yu was clearly difficult to achieve; there must have been others assisting him from behind.

Su Mu took out Zhang Yu's mask from his chest, looking at the single twinkling Star Official Xi Xin on the blueprint, lost in thought.

Xi Xin was the Star Official responsible for providing new fire for dyes, which perfectly matched Zhang Yu's actions. However, if this was the case, the number of people under Jing Mu Yan's command was likely not small.

Nevertheless, having caught Jing Mu Yan's tail, Su Mu naturally had no reason to let go easily. Unless Jing Mu Yan was willing to abandon everything here, as long as he came, Su Mu would certainly ensure he had no return.

Indeed, after Su Mu waited patiently for several days, the Ghost Head stone door silently opened, and a figure completely hidden in a cloak swam in.

This cloaked figure's objective was extremely clear. After confirming the situation, he went straight to the lava pit. When he saw the Hanba army simultaneously vanish without a trace, he turned to leave without hesitation.

"Since you've arrived, then stay."

Along with a cold voice, Su Mu slowly emerged from a side of the cliff. His Fleshly Divine Slaughter transformed into a long sword and shot straight towards the man.

Seeing this, the man did not hesitate, attempting to dodge. Suddenly, he found his body as heavy as Mount Tai; an invisible force was pulling him towards the lava.

Seeing the man's appearance, Su Mu sneered, accelerating his strike towards the man who was bound by the Houtu Divine Slaughter.

The man's face was covered by his cloak, making it unclear. Su Mu couldn't determine if this person was Jing Mu Yan, but Su Mu had no intention of holding back.

The man clearly also sensed the power of Su Mu's sword. After struggling unsuccessfully, he allowed the Houtu Divine Slaughter's gravity to pull him towards the lava.

Seeing the man's decisive action, Su Mu was somewhat surprised. He immediately increased the intensity of his attack, striking forcefully at the man.

A golden light flashed, and one of the man's arms was immediately severed, falling into the lava. The man cried out, but used the immense force of this sword strike to propel himself straight into the lava.

Seeing this, Su Mu frowned slightly, glanced at the severed arm soaking in the lava, then once again gave chase.

He had aimed for the man's head just now, but the man had forcefully twisted his body at the last moment, and moreover, used Su Mu's force to accelerate his escape.

Such decisive yet reckless behavior seemed somewhat unlike the Jing Mu Yan in his memory.

Furthermore, the sensation when he struck the man with his sword just now always felt a bit strange.

Borrowing Su Mu's force, the man's speed surged. Before Su Mu could catch up, he had already leaped into the lava, showing no fear of the terrifying temperature.

Su Mu saw this and did not hesitate, similarly plunging straight into the lava.

With his current physical strength, this small amount of lava could not harm him.

As soon as he entered the lava, Su Mu felt a terrifying temperature, far exceeding that outside, rush towards him. It was also mixed with a dense corpse qi, likely from the overflowing Hanba army.

Extreme heat combined with corpse qi—if the fire energy here entered the body, even ordinary Void Refinement cultivators would likely find it difficult to resist the fire poison within. Yet, the man was like a fish in water, his speed not slowing down at all compared to outside.

Seeing this, Su Mu immediately understood the other party's identity. His right hand formed a void grasp, and the surrounding lava quickly compressed, forcefully pushing the man back.

Lava was a combination of fire and earth, and could still be controlled by the Houtu Divine Slaughter. If not for this, how could Su Mu be so confident?

The man clearly hadn't expected Su Mu to have this trick up his sleeve. He wanted to escape, but it was already too late. He hesitated slightly, then advanced instead of retreating, his remaining right arm grabbing straight at Su Mu.

Seeing the man's actions, Su Mu's thoughts stirred. The surrounding lava transformed into countless chains, tightly coiling around the man, then lifted both of them upwards.

Without the lava's concealment, and with the black cloak on his body burned away by the lava, the man's true appearance was finally revealed.

A terrifyingly ferocious face, a stiff and swollen body, and corpse qi condensed without dissipating—it was a Spirit Refining Realm Zombie.

"Truly cunning, using a Zombie to scout the way."

Looking at the Zombie's eyes, devoid of any violent aura, Su Mu sneered, as if seeing through the Zombie's eyes to the person behind it.

Seeing Su Mu's expression, the Zombie said nothing. The consciousness in its eyes quickly vanished, and the corpse qi around its body continuously surged, intending to self-destruct.

Seeing this, Su Mu did not hesitate, directly severing its head with a single sword strike and retrieving it. At the same time, a strange memory surged into Su Mu's mind.

It truly was someone from the Ming Palace~

Su Mu quickly finished reviewing this memory, sighed softly, and looked up towards the sky, wondering what he was thinking.

Sanyang Lake shore.

Jing Mu Yan, who had been hiding, slowly opened his eyes. Looking at the icy lake before him, a trace of regret flashed in his eyes. A white flame suddenly erupted from his palms, striking forcefully towards the ground beneath his feet.

In an instant, the ground cracked open, and a figure escaped from within—it was Su Mu, who should have been in the Underground Palace at the bottom of the lake.

Judging from Tai Shang's Legacy, Jing Mu Yan was absolutely a meticulous individual. Even if he knew the Underground Palace at the bottom of the lake had been exposed, he would not risk himself. Therefore, Su Mu had only left a clone there, while his true body had hidden beneath the ground by Sanyang Lake, patiently waiting for Jing Mu Yan to show himself.

"To actually discover me, was it still due to the close proximity?"

Su Mu looked at the familiar mask on Jing Mu Yan's face, couldn't help but mock himself, and at the same time took out the Kunyuan Sword, holding it towards Jing Mu Yan, saying, "We are all from the Ming Palace. As a senior, please enlighten me?"

Hearing Su Mu's words, Jing Mu Yan's eyes narrowed, but he had no intention of entangling with Su Mu. The Southern Ming Lihuo suddenly transformed into countless fire arrows, shooting straight towards Su Mu.

"Well met!"

Seeing Jing Mu Yan's decisive action, Su Mu advanced instead of retreating. He swung his sword, continuously slashing, and countless golden sword qi roared out, meeting the Southern Ming Lihuo.