The sun peeked over the horizon, and Xu Mu woke up.
His breakfast was a large portion of plump shrimp and fish dumplings, steaming hot. Qiong Qi ate just as heartily, and neither of them used any vinegar.
"Knock, knock, knock."
At that moment, a knock sounded from outside the door. Xu Mu chewed on a shrimp, exchanged a glance with Qiong Qi, then gripped his knife and slowly walked to the door.
"Who is it?" Xu Mu asked calmly through the door.
"It's me." A familiar voice came from outside.
Xu Mu smiled faintly, recognizing the speaker. He then sheathed his knife, opened the door, and returned to the table to pick up a dumpling. He popped it into his mouth and asked vaguely while chewing, "Have you thought it through?"
"There are still nine days left until the tenth day. You can take your time to think, no need to rush."
"There's no need to drag it out any longer. When I went back last night, that old guy swallowed everything. I can't stand it anymore!" Nash walked into the room, pulled off his mask, and cursed with a face full of resentment.
"Greed is a good thing. At least we know his weakness." Xu Mu, having cleared his plate, swallowed the last dumpling and took a sip of tea. "What time does his blacksmith shop open? I'll go see him today."
"It's open now. He wakes up very early."
"But I'm still curious, how exactly do you plan to convince him to let me go? That old fellow is very cunning," Nash asked with concern.
"I'm not going to see him because of your matter," Xu Mu said, quickly tidying himself up in the mirror. After drying his hands, he picked up the well-fed Qiong Qi into his arms and prepared to set off.
"What do you mean? Are you going back on your word?" Nash's expression changed slightly, and he immediately retreated to the doorway.
Xu Mu shook his head. "What I mean is, I can break your contract myself. I don't need his permission."
"However, I still have some things to investigate, and I can't let him discover them for now. So, you'll have to wait until I'm done with my business today before we deal with the contract."
"If I try to break it forcefully, I'll die," Nash said seriously after a moment of thought. He had traveled extensively over the years and learned many strange and peculiar methods. He had considered forcefully breaking the contract before, but the backlash from the contract Dega had made with him was too strong for him to bear.
"Don't worry, I have a way," Xu Mu said with a confident smile. Contracts, in essence, were formed by the entanglement of the laws of the Great Dao. His Innate Eight Trigrams could alter destiny and glimpse the Great Dao; destroying a contract was not a difficult task.
"Follow me. Let's go see Dega."
As Xu Mu spoke, he vanished through the doorway. Nash was momentarily stunned, then hurried to follow, deliberately keeping some distance, not walking alongside him.
The streets of Tucheng were old and sparsely populated with extraordinary individuals, but those who were present were very powerful. Xu Mu moved swiftly through the dangerous auras and soon arrived at the blacksmith shop on the east side of the city.
It was early morning, so there were few people around.
"Please announce that I wish to see Dega," Xu Mu said to the guard at the entrance.
"Since you've come to see the Master, why do you address him so informally?" the guard's expression turned cold, and he eyed Xu Mu with ill intent.
"I'm used to it. Please be accommodating," Xu Mu said with a grin, pulling out a silver ingot and eagerly handing it to the guard, whose eyes lit up as he subtly accepted it.
"That's more like it. I'll go in and announce you," the guard said, turning to go inside. But just then, an unfriendly voice boomed from within the courtyard:
"You offended Ma Chuan, so you've come to Master Dega for protection? You've only just arrived in Tucheng, and your reaction is quite impressive, but unfortunately, Master Dega will not see you."
The voice preceded the speaker.
Xu Mu recognized him instantly as the man who had stood with Ma Chuan last night. His name was Wu Zhen, and Le Lingyun had told him that Wu Zhen's father was the third boss of the black market.
"Master Dega himself said he won't see me?" Xu Mu met his gaze and asked calmly.
"Not exactly, but your words won't reach him, so you naturally won't see him." Wu Zhen blocked the guard, who dared not say another word, respectfully stepped back several paces, and stood at attention.
The silver ingot was not returned to Xu Mu.
"Oh." Xu Mu clicked his tongue, then took a deep breath. Using the strength he once employed as a night watchman, he infused his extraordinary power and shouted into the courtyard:
"Please, Master Dega, come out and see me!"
RUMBLE!
Waves of sound erupted from the young man's lips, causing the surrounding walls to tremble and dust to fall. Clattering sounds, as if ironware had been dropped, echoed from within the shop, and even the white clouds in the sky dispersed.
This one shout echoed throughout half of Tucheng.
As for the mortal guard at the entrance, he had been stunned unconscious by the sheer force. Wu Zhen clutched his head, his ears ringing, and only after a long while did he slowly lower his hands.
Blood trickled from his palms.
He shook his head and then noticed that Xu Mu was now standing in front of the guard, holding the silver ingot.
"This shout will hasten your death!" Wu Zhen exclaimed, both shocked and enraged. His spiritual energy transformed into countless poisoned needles, launching a furious assault towards Xu Mu's mind.
Xu Mu's expression remained unchanged. He met these spiritual needles head-on and instantly flickered to Wu Zhen's left side, subtly lifting his knee.
THUMP!
Xu Mu's right knee connected with Wu Zhen's waist, striking like a bell. The terrifying impact shattered the bones in Wu Zhen's waist, sending him flying backward to smash against the courtyard wall on the other side.
His posture was identical to Ma Chuan's the previous night.
"Puff." Wu Zhen's face contorted in horror, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. Enduring the searing pain, he collapsed on the ground, staring at Xu Mu with disbelief.
"How is this possible? How can you be immune to my spiritual attack? What exactly did you do?!"
He cried out in terror, but Xu Mu ignored him, thinking to himself, "Do I have to tell him that my spiritual power is as vast as the sea?"
Having dealt with Wu Zhen, Xu Mu turned to step over the blacksmith shop's threshold to find Dega. But at that moment, several powerful auras descended from the sky behind him, approaching with great hostility.
"Wu Zhen, who did this to you?!" Ma Chuan and his uncle, Ma Xuan, along with several black market extraordinary individuals, descended in a formidable group.
"Don't be stupid, who else could it be!" Wu Zhen glanced at Ma Chuan, his face pale, and wailed. The bones in his waist were all shattered, and the piercing pain made him want to pass out.
But he knew he couldn't pass out, because he still wanted to witness Xu Mu's death with his own eyes!
"Stealing my woman and harming my brother, attack him! Kill this brat!" Ma Chuan roared with hatred, then charged towards Xu Mu with four second-stage black market thugs. Their combined extraordinary powers formed a surging phantom of a tiger and leopard.
"Twisting right and wrong, just like the Ye family," Xu Mu shook his head, holding the little Qiong Qi in his arms. He took a step forward, causing the space to tremble violently. His blood energy surged forth, and his left leg swept out with terrifying power. The tiger and leopard phantom instantly collapsed, and the five attackers were sent flying like cannonballs.
CRACK!
The thick trunk of a tree was snapped in half by Ma Chuan's body. He spat blood, his face filled with terror.
"Such a strong physique," Ma Xuan, standing to the side, said with a slight shock. He hadn't expected this young-faced boy to be so powerful, capable of eliminating five second-stage black market extraordinary individuals with a single blow.
"Uncle, quickly kill him!" Ma Chuan cried out in pain. As his body slowly slid down from the tree, his face hit the ground, and he swallowed a mouthful of dirt.
Ma Chuan now clearly understood that the gap in strength between him and Xu Mu was vast. To kill him, he could only rely on his uncle, Ma Xuan, who was at the peak of the fourth stage.
"Never-ending," Xu Mu's killing intent flared. His body flickered, and he instantly appeared before Ma Chuan, then stomped down, seemingly intending to kill him. But at this critical moment, Ma Xuan spoke.
He had, at some unknown point, taken a deep breath, his jaw bulging like a toad's. Then, he suddenly roared: "Stop!"
Ma Xuan's voice was like thunder, accompanied by lion-like roars, unleashing endless waves of extraordinary energy. Within these waves were countless illusory swords and spears, as if intending to pierce Xu Mu's body.
Xu Mu's body was buffeted by these waves, and he retreated several steps before managing to stabilize himself.
Wu Zhen's face lit up with excitement. The "Lion's Roar" was a technique known throughout Tucheng, the signature move of Ma Xuan, the black market's second boss.
With this move, Xu Mu was surely doomed!
But clearly, Xu Mu would not die, because his physique and spiritual soul were far more resilient than ordinary people could imagine.
Even so, if it were just that, he would have had to retreat from such a formidable technique from a fourth-stage Lord. Yet now, Xu Mu had not retreated an inch. First, he held in his arms a white little tiger, resembling a tabby cat, which was Qiong Qi.
Qiong Qi opened his eyes at the sound of the lion's roar.
He had woken up too early today and was already irritable. To be disturbed from his nap by a lion's roar made him truly angry.
So, he opened his mouth and let out a roar: "Awooo!"
This "Awooo!" far surpassed all previous sonic attacks. It was the true roar of the king of beasts, its divine beast bloodline exerting immense pressure, forcing Ma Xuan's lion's roar to be abruptly suppressed.
"Puff!"
The latter spat out blood, his face ashen.
The roaring gradually subsided, and Ma Xuan's pupils contracted to their smallest size. He gazed at the white tabby cat-like tiger demon in Xu Mu's arms, his face filled with terror, his legs trembling uncontrollably.
This was the true king of beasts. With a single roar, all enemies would tremble before it. His lion's roar seemed so powerless in this moment.
"Young man, tiger demon, could it be..." Ma Xuan's face was filled with horror. He stumbled back two steps, his head slightly dizzy. He had guessed the young man's identity, but he couldn't believe it was true.
If that were true, wouldn't it mean that in the next second, he would turn to ash, just like that Ye family guard?
"What... what is your name?" Ma Xuan asked, his voice slightly stammering, trying to steady his breathing.
"Please don't be Xu Mu, please don't be Xu Mu..." Ma Xuan prayed silently.
"Uncle, your Lion's Roar technique is becoming more masterful!" Ma Chuan, groaning in pain, struggled to stand up from beneath the tree.
"Huh? Why are you still alive?" Ma Chuan's expression froze, disbelief etched on his face. How could this brat still be alive after taking such an enhanced Lion's Roar?
"Do you have any last words?" Xu Mu looked at Ma Chuan and asked calmly.
"You're at death's door, and you're still talking tough. You should be the one with last words!"
Ma Chuan pointed at Xu Mu with arrogant fury. At that moment, Xu Mu began to walk towards him, prompting Ma Chuan to quickly turn and look at Ma Xuan.
"Uncle, use your Lion's Roar again and kill this brat! Let him be utterly destroyed and never find peace!" Ma Chuan cursed venomously, wanting to kill Xu Mu and clear the shadow in his heart.
"Xu Mu, I'm here to save you!" Le Lingyun's voice came from afar. Ma Chuan's expression changed drastically as he hurriedly urged, "Uncle, if you don't act now, it'll be too late! Kill him quickly!"
SLAM!
But in the next instant, Ma Chuan's entire body was sent flying outwards, the terrifying impact shattering the courtyard wall of the neighboring house, kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Who's your uncle? I don't know you, damn it!"