Da Xuan Martial Saint

"He Family... Heavenly Corpse Sect... Yan Jingqing..."

Chen Mu pondered in his heart.

In his view, if there were various signs pointing to connections between the He Family and the remnants of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, then it would be quite normal for Yan Jingqing to take direct action against the He Family, and the ultimate fate of the He Family would depend on the nature of their relationship with the remnants of the Heavenly Corpse Sect.

If they were simply using each other, then the problem would still be within a certain range, but if the He Family had outright defected to the Heavenly Corpse Sect and completely worked for them, then there was no doubt that their annihilation would not be far off.

And from Yan Jingqing's reaction this time.

It was highly probable that the He Family was indeed involved with the remnants of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, but perhaps not deeply, just to some extent using each other, such as exchanging resources with the remnants of the Heavenly Corpse Sect and so on.

In the past, this would undoubtedly still be a heinous crime deserving of extermination, but nowadays the world is in chaos, even sects like the Blood Hidden Pavilion that practice the path of assassination dare to stand out in public, so the situation is naturally different.

Of course, Chen Mu thought it more likely that Yan Jingqing wanted to use the He Family to dig out more information about the remnants of the Heavenly Corpse Sect.

After all, for Yan Jingqing, the He Family truly didn't count for much. They couldn't escape right under his watch, and he could eradicate them with a flick of his hand, so they were not important at all.

But the remnants of the Heavenly Corpse Sect hidden within Yu County were still shrouded in mysteries, and so far, no results had been found.

"Heavenly Corpse Sect..."

Chen Mu shook his head.

Since this part was involved, then he completely lost the intention to probe further, after all, it was not something that he should be concerned with at the moment, nor was it necessary to forcefully guess the intentions of Yan Jingqing and even the Seven Profound Sect.

Moreover, this strange situation also gave him a feeling of an impending storm.

It was time to continue improving his strength.

At least, with his current level of strength, he could at most fight the inner sect disciples of the four sects and was far from being able to cope with the true inheritors of the four sects. As for the still enigmatic remnants of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, there was even less to say.

...

Yu Family's Refining Hall.

In the cold winter of December, wind and snow intertwined.

The smelting masters, however, were bare-chested, showing strong muscles and sweating profusely as they wielded an extremely heavy hammer, continuously striking against a knife blank on the forging bench.

A treasured saber was gradually taking shape under their hammering.

Finally.

After completing the hammering, he placed the knife blank back into the furnace for heat treatment again. Once the blade turned red-hot, he plunged it into the ice water next to the furnace, reheating and quenching it several times until the treasured saber was finally forged.

"Done!"

The smelting master showed a smile on his face, lifting the thoroughly formed blade in front of him, observed its shape, and exclaimed, "This saber should be the highest quality treasured saber I've forged since I started forging. Apart from those legendary blades tempered with the spirits of demons or spirit weapons, there aren't many treasured artifacts that can surpass it."

Chen Mu stood by watching, and he could plainly feel that this newly forged treasured saber, which currently only had a blade without an edge or a finished handle, was different from the fine iron knives he had used before.

"Treasured artifacts, spirit weapons."

Chen Mu showed a contemplative look.

In the various books he had read, there were records about weapons that classified all blades and weapons in the world into three categories: 'Mortal Weapons,' 'Treasured Artifacts,' and 'Spirit Weapons.'

The standard duty sabers he used before, as well as the fine iron knives from the Demon-Slaying Office, were all considered Mortal Weapons. Even though the fine iron knives were of higher quality, made of hundred-refined fine iron, they still could not be called treasured sabers.

Treasured Artifacts.

Being crowned with the character 'treasured,' they naturally belonged to a category of treasures. Forging this saber from mystic iron was still alright, as it was in greater supply, and Yu Zutian was able to reopen this trade route for the Yu Family after taking over as Deputy Governor of the Smelting Bureau.

However, the silverstream ore was an extremely rare mineral class, with a single piece valued over a hundred thousand silver taels.

Therefore, the saber forged from it naturally earned the title of treasured saber, which amounted to hefty amounts of silver taels.

As for spirit weapons...

Chen Mu had only heard of them and had yet to see one.

It was said that only demonic creatures of the eighth rank and above possessed 'spirit,' and the weapons forged from them would have all kinds of incredible abilities. The founding Emperor Lord of the Da Xuan Dynasty had once sought out and slain nine ninth-rank demonic creatures, refining nine spirit weapons as the national treasures of the Da Xuan Dynasty, capable of opposing thousands of troops!

The existence of spirit weapons constituted the true foundation of the Great Sects and even the Da Xuan Dynasty. After all, people would age, but spirit weapons, imbued with demonic might, could endure for a thousand years without decay. Just like the declining state of the Da Xuan Dynasty, there were still no voices daring to openly rebel.

They were all deterred by the millennium-long foundation, and nobody wanted to be the first to confront it head-on.

Shaking his head.

Chen Mu quickly gathered his thoughts.

Such divine items like spirit weapons were too far out of his reach, and he needn't consider them too deeply.

Now that the entirety of the treasured saber had been forged, the smelting master deftly handled the fine-tuning and sharpening. It didn't take long before a treasured saber, looking like flowing silver and gleaming under the sunlight, was completely unveiled.

Swish, swish!

Chen Mu took the treasured saber and casually swung it twice, feeling the weight and grip were very suitable. Read new chapters at empire

"Very good."

A slight smile appeared on his face.

Though there were some complications in the making of this treasured saber, in the end, everything developed the way he wanted. It had also opened up the mystic iron acquisition channel for the Yu Family, and he found receiving this piece of silverstream stone quite justified.

"Forged with silverstream stone, let's just call it the Silverstream Saber."

Chen Mu looked at the Silverstream Saber in his hand. He had always been too lazy to come up with names, and the knives he had used in the past weren't worthy of a name. This treasured saber was somewhat formal, and naming it the Silverstream Saber was simple and straightforward.

With the newly forged Silverstream Saber in hand, Chen Mu soon returned to his underground silent chamber.

"Wind-Thunder Shock."

"Wind-Fire Blaze."

"Thunder-Fire Ash."

One after another, the techniques flowed seamlessly.

With the final strike, the artistic conceptions of wind, thunder, and fire converged. The entire Silverstream Saber crackled and sparked, wrapped in swathes of red flames accompanied by flashes of lightning. Within the fierce winds, the flames gathered into an elongated blade shape and struck down ferociously.

"Heaven's Wrath."

Since the artistic conceptions of wind, thunder, and fire all belonged to the Qian Heaven Artistic Conception, bringing together these Three Phases represented the most powerful move in Chen Mu's Blade Technique. Thus, he named this move 'Heaven's Wrath'!

Boom!

The strike fell.

Under the fierce saber wrapped with lightning, the solid block of raw iron splintered into innumerable fragments at the impact, scattering forward in a dense spray that embedded itself into the wall.

"Very good, this truly is a treasured saber."

Chen Mu inspected the blade of the Silverstream Saber. After unleashing such a strike, where the power of the Three Phases converged, the body of the saber still shone with a silvery light and showed no damage at all—it was clearly capable of withstanding his full power.

Although when one's Martial Arts reached the level of Artistic Conception, even the most fragile flowers and leaves could harm others, that was typically only when bullying those weaker. For example, rough Martial Men like Yan Wansi who couldn't comprehend Artistic Conception.

When it came to a contest of Artistic Conceptions, wielding the Treasured Saber like the Silverstream Saber was naturally far superior to manipulating Artistic Conceptions with mere twigs or branches, and the exerted power was much greater.

Sigh.

Chen Mu let out a soft breath, glanced at the mess on the ground, but was too lazy to tidy up any further. He turned and walked towards the back, arriving at the Flame Jade Bed. He took off his boots, stepped onto it, placed the Silverstream Saber by his side, and picked up the Separating Fire Map.

With his current strength, and armed with the Silverstream Saber, facing someone in the Five Viscera Realm like He Wuyou wouldn't be too frightening. However, one's strength could never be too great. He still had a little way to go to reach 'Jade Bone' in his Bone Tempering practice. According to his progress, it would take about two months.

Before that time, he could certainly advance to the second step in the Separating Fire Artistic Conception.

And after that,

Chen Mu planned to visit the Demon-Slaying Office and contemplate the Xun Wind Diagram.

As the Metropolitan Commander of the Inspectorate, who also held the office of the Demon-Slaying Office, he had access to numerous resources. For instance, contemplating the Artistic Conception Maps required only a small amount of Merit to exchange for substantial contemplation time, unlike what was consumed by a Deputy Governor or a White-Clothed Guard.

With the Merit he had accumulated, advancing two or three Artistic Conceptions to the second step would be no problem.

The Artistic Conception Maps in the Demon-Slaying Office, besides Qian Heaven Kun Earth, were complete with the other Six Phases.

For Chen Mu at this time, the Xun Wind Artistic Conception wasn't just the first Artistic Conception he had mastered, but more importantly, it possessed the 'Autumn Wind Sense' perception attribute, which was incredibly useful for him.

For instance, when previously searching for Yan Wansi, he couldn't distinguish whether the faint breathing he heard from a distance in a noisy environment was from someone in the Bone Tempering Realm or the Tendon Changing Realm. However, if he could further improve upon the Xun Wind Artistic Conception, then surely he would be able to perceive even these subtle differences with clarity.

"Actually, the Kan Water Artistic Conception should also have means of perception."

A contemplative expression crossed Chen Mu's face.

As calm as water, it reflects everything... The perception ability of the Kan Water Artistic Conception was a different method altogether. These types of perception abilities were naturally better the more one mastered. If everything went smoothly, after mastering the Xun Wind Artistic Conception, he would likely move on to practice the Kan Water Artistic Conception next.

But for now, his focus remained on comprehending the Separating Fire Artistic Conception.

He called up the system interface to take a look.

[Martial Arts: Separating Fire Artistic Conception]

[Experience: 9529 points]

[Available for deduction: 0 times]

"Just a few more days..."

Chen Mu nodded slightly in his heart, then immediately concentrated, settling down to carefully contemplate the Separating Fire Map.

...

Several days passed in a blink.

Chen Mu sat silently on the Flame Jade Bed.

Suddenly, a wisp of flame rose from the soles of his feet, spreading upward along his body, igniting his thin clothing. Soon, he was engulfed in fierce flames that burned his garments to ashes, yet strangely, not a single hair on his skin was harmed.

The flames grew in intensity, raging more ferociously atop the Flame Jade Bed and gradually spreading toward the Separating Fire Map.

However, just as the flames were about to reach the map, Chen Mu's closed eyes slightly opened. He reached out through the blaze, the flames at his fingertips quickly receding. He pointed towards the Separating Fire Map and sent it several yards away.

There he sat, still bathed in the flames, feeling the intense heat that almost touched him. Yet, as he looked around, the flames seemed incredibly gentle, under his control, not even singeing a hair.

"Separating Fire."

Chen Mu slowly opened his hand.

In an instant, the flames on his body seemed drawn to his palm, gathering swiftly until they formed a ball of red flame that flickered there, its light illuminating the entire Silent Chamber.

"This is the second step of the Separating Fire Artistic Conception..."

Chen Mu murmured to himself, then closed his hands and the wisp of flame immediately extinguished.

When he had first achieved a rudimentary grasp of the Separating Fire Artistic Conception, he could unleash fierce flames, but he couldn't control them, bursting forth indiscriminately. At most, he could use the Xun Wind Artistic Conception to bind and manipulate the shape of the flames.

Now, without the need for the Xun Wind Artistic Conception's assistance and solely through his own understanding of the nature of separating fire between heaven and earth, he could control the Separating Fire Artistic Conception as easily as moving his own limbs. The power was far greater than before.

Chen Mu clenched his fists.

"With the three Artistic Conceptions of wind, thunder, and fire, thunder and fire both stepping into the second phase, and Bone Tempering cultivated to perfection to form a body of horizontal training... I wonder if my strength now would allow me to exchange a few blows with Elder Yu Jiujiang."