Xu Mu walked to the front of the fallen youth and tossed his spatial storage bag to Jiang Sheng.
"Here you go."
Ye Han watched the unfolding situation with unease. He hadn't expected Xu Mu to be so powerful, capable of kicking his friend, a peak second-stage cultivator, to the ground with a single blow.
Moreover, how dare he commit such violence in front of the lord of the Golden Silver Merchant Guild?
"Someone is committing violence and even robbing our spatial storage bags right in front of you. Are you going to intervene or not?" Ye Han took out his Ye family token and shouted.
"Of course, I will intervene." Fan Qi's face darkened as he fixed his gaze on Xu Mu. His imposing aura surged forth, enveloping them within his domain. He shouted, "Do you want to die?"
"No," Xu Mu replied calmly, looking at the old man. He had no intention of summoning Qiongqi to battle, as his current position allowed him to descend the stairs at any moment.
Once downstairs, he could find Manager Liang. The manager knew his identity and had vested interests, so he wouldn't simply watch him die.
"For the sake of the Jiang family, I will give you a chance to atone," the old man said, narrowing his eyes and suppressing his anger. "First, you must clean up this mess, compensate for all the damages, and then sincerely apologize. I might consider letting you go."
"What if I don't?" Xu Mu asked, his hand subtly moving towards the handle, ready to jump down at any moment.
"Then you die!" Fan Qi declared, raising his hand with killing intent.
Hum!
With a wave of ethereal fluctuations, the deep blue domain surged with endless water elemental energy, rushing towards Xu Mu as if to engulf him.
"No!" Jiang Sheng and Qian Qian's faces changed drastically. They both leaped forward simultaneously, intending to shield Xu Mu from the fatal blow.
They had two reasons for doing so. Firstly, they were genuinely concerned for Xu Mu. After a brief acquaintance, they had become friends, and Xu Mu also bore the crucial responsibility of treating Jiang Sheng's mother.
Secondly, they couldn't fathom the trouble it would bring to their Jiang family if someone of Xu Mu's stature died here. It might be akin to the Lin family of Black Horn City, being utterly destroyed by the Ye family.
Even if the consequences wouldn't be as dire, they surmised they wouldn't be far off.
"Overestimating yourself," Ye Han sneered. With the lord intervening, there was no way their opponent could escape.
"Stop!"
Just as Xu Mu was about to jump down and flee, a violent whirlwind erupted before him, shredding the water elementals.
Rumble!
The gale raged, blowing the water elementals back, forcing the old man to retreat repeatedly. Many onlookers who had gathered to watch also fell.
"Feng Tian, what is the meaning of this!" Fan Qi's face flushed with anger as he confronted the person blocking Xu Mu.
"Old Fan, you're truly muddle-headed!" Elder Feng glanced at Xu Mu, then walked to Fan Qi's side with a look of disappointment, whispering something to him. Fan Qi's expression flickered repeatedly, eventually turning ashen.
His gaze towards Xu Mu shifted from anger to reverence.
"How did you come here? Please, don't take his actions to heart," Elder Feng said, walking nervously to Xu Mu.
He hadn't expected to encounter Xu Mu here at all. This was the borderland between the Jiang and Ye families, and the Ye family was frantically searching for him. How dared he show himself here?
"Mm, I did guess you might be here," Xu Mu said, his gaze unwavering. He then recounted how Manager Liang had deceived him regarding the Bodhi Root, shocking Elder Feng.
"I swear, whether in Black Horn City or here, I never revealed your identity. Manager Liang deduced it himself!" Elder Feng glanced at Qiongqi in Xu Mu's embrace, recalling the fate of the Ye family's expert, and swallowed nervously. He continued, "Rest assured, I will definitely find a way to help you recover your losses!"
"Mm." Xu Mu nodded. Then, mimicking the expression of someone with gray pupils, he looked blankly at the old man. The latter stood there tremblingly, not daring to utter a word.
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Fan Qi's heart was filled with trepidation and fear. Elder Feng had just told him that Xu Mu was a direct disciple of someone on the Demonic Exorcism Division's World Ranking!
Such a being was not someone even the four Golden Silver Merchant Guild branches of the southeast, northwest, and central regions dared to offend lightly. Killing him might be a matter of a single word!
"You people dare to cause trouble at the Golden Silver Merchant Guild. You truly don't know the meaning of death," Elder Feng said, his voice stern with the lord's authority, looking at Ye Han. "I don't care about the reasons, but today's incident requires a reasonable explanation. Otherwise, even if you bring the higher-ups of the Ye family, I won't let you off!"
"Found it! This is my money pouch!" At this moment, Jiang Sheng had found the money pouch that Jiang Li had given him within the spatial storage bag.
"You scoundrel of the Ye family, how dare you deceive me!" Fan Qi exclaimed, instantly finding a way to salvage the situation. He immediately changed his target, angrily rushing to Ye Han, pinning him to the ground, and roaring, "Surrender quickly!"
"Wh-what's happening?" Ye Han's right cheek thudded against the ground. His mind was utterly bewildered, as he had never expected the situation to change so rapidly. The lord of the Golden Silver Merchant Guild, who had been on his side moments ago, was now pinning him down and ordering him to surrender?
"Who is this person? He has such great influence."
"I don't know, but he's definitely not someone to trifle with. At least his status is far more noble than that of this Ye family scion, otherwise, these two wouldn't be acting like this."
Murmurs arose from the surrounding crowd, leaving Jiang Sheng and Qian Qian stunned.
"Could it be that Brother Mu Xu showed them his Southern Palace family token?" Jiang Sheng scratched his head, asking with some confusion.
"I don't know," Qian Qian shook his head, also perplexed by what was happening.
Meanwhile, after subduing Ye Han, Fan Qi diligently packed all the spirit herbs Jiang Sheng had intended to purchase and presented them, offering a respectful apology.
"Young friend, I am truly sorry for wrongly accusing you earlier. These spirit herbs will not be charged to you; they will be on my account. Please… do not take offense." The old man said, glancing towards Xu Mu.
The responsibility lay entirely with the Ye family; otherwise, why would he go to such lengths!
"Really?!" Jiang Sheng exclaimed, surprised by such good fortune.
"These are our own herbs; we don't need others to buy them. Take this money." Qian Qian shook his head, handed the money pouch from Jiang Sheng to the old man, and said earnestly.
"Qian Qian, you..." Jiang Sheng was stunned and was about to say something when Qian Qian pulled him away.
"Are you an idiot? He's clearly doing this on Brother Mu Xu's behalf because he wants to spare you the cost. If you accept it guilt-free, you'll owe him a favor. We've already incurred a significant debt; if we owe more, we might as well sell ourselves to repay it. Is money more valuable, or is a favor more valuable? Think about it!"
Qian Qian dragged Jiang Sheng away, whispering.
"But I really need the money. The money my father gave me isn't enough to buy the medicine. At worst, I'll repay him by working myself to the bone!" Jiang Sheng was still unwilling to leave, muttering anxiously.
"Are you really an idiot? His spatial storage bag is still in your hand. I saw it earlier; the money inside is enough for you to buy the medicine!" Qian Qian pointed at the bag clutched in Jiang Sheng's left hand, sighing.
"That's right!" Jiang Sheng's face lit up. How could he have forgotten this? Mu Xu had tossed it to him earlier, and the other party hadn't asked for it back, so it was his now!
"Thank you for this, Brother Mu Xu," Qian Qian said, leading Jiang Sheng to thank Xu Mu. The latter waved his hand indifferently, and the three of them descended the stairs together.
"Brother Feng Tian, this matter… should be considered over, right?" the old man named Fan Qi asked nervously, watching Xu Mu leave.
Everything he had done was to pacify Xu Mu's anger, to prevent any repercussions. Now that Xu Mu had left without a word, he felt quite at a loss.
"Don't worry, he's not one to dwell on such things," Elder Feng said, patting Fan Qi's shoulder comfortingly. Xu Mu's identity was something he had fabricated, and he hadn't expected it to frighten Fan Qi so much.
"However, you must keep this matter confidential. Never mention it to anyone, even under duress, or it could implicate your family!" Elder Feng earnestly instructed, to which Fan Qi repeatedly agreed.
Afterward, Elder Feng hurried out of the Golden Silver Merchant Guild and found Xu Mu walking on the street.
"Everything has been resolved over there. I've instructed him to maintain secrecy, but Manager Liang is not tight-lipped. I fear he might seek out the Ye family," Elder Feng said softly, catching up to Xu Mu.
"Where does he live? Is there an opportunity to kill him?" Xu Mu asked with a frown upon hearing this.
"It's not easy to kill him. He stays within the Golden Silver Merchant Guild all day. If you want to deal with him without being noticed, it will be quite difficult," Elder Feng sighed and continued, "However, since he obtained so many roots from you, he will surely seize the opportunity to go into seclusion and cultivate. He has long yearned for the Great Dao of Death, hoping to use it to break through to the Domain Lord realm."
"Can he break through?" Xu Mu stopped abruptly upon hearing this, his brow furrowed. "If he can become a Domain Lord after his seclusion, then even at the risk of exposing my identity, I will kill him!"
"No, no, no. He's currently only at the peak of the fourth stage," Elder Feng said calmly, shaking his head. He then explained, "It's just that his strength is immense, and he has refined the abilities of each stage to their absolute limits. Therefore, if he were to comprehend the Great Dao of Death, breaking through to the Domain Lord realm should not be difficult."
"Then it's fine. By the time the Myriad Races Assembly begins, his cultivation level will be irrelevant," Xu Mu nodded, feeling relieved.
Upon hearing this, Elder Feng let out a sigh of envy.
In his opinion, Xu Mu's confidence stemmed from the fact that his background would be revealed at the Myriad Races Assembly, which was why he was unafraid.
However, what he didn't realize was that Xu Mu's true thought was that if his identity were exposed during the Myriad Races Assembly, the major powers of the entire world would likely hunt him down. In that scenario, dealing with a few more enemies like Manager Liang wouldn't make much of a difference.
Therefore, whether he broke through to Domain Lord or reported him to the Ye family was of little concern to him.
"In a few days, draw me a map of the Golden Silver Merchant Guild's internal guard divisions. I plan to make a big move."
Xu Mu, with one foot already stepping into the Jiang residence, turned back and said to Elder Feng.
The latter's body stiffened slightly, then he replied respectfully, "Yes."
...
Entering the Jiang residence, Jiang Sheng and Qian Qian walked alongside Xu Mu again.
Although they were curious about Xu Mu's identity and even more so about why the powerful figure from the Golden Silver Merchant Guild was following them, they suppressed their questions.
They had more important matters to attend to: requesting Xu Mu to treat Jiang Sheng's mother.
...
An hour later.
Xu Mu finished refining the medicine.
"Angelica and Solanum nigrum have insufficient quantities. You need to purchase another fifteen grams. And you must buy the Seven-Leaf Pure Lotus and Thunder King Vine as quickly as possible. Without these two auxiliary ingredients, the blood cells within your mother's body still cannot regenerate."
Xu Mu said, emerging from the room with a bowl of freshly brewed medicinal gruel.
"Okay, Fan Qi has already agreed to help me search for them," Jiang Sheng nodded solemnly, then quickly took the bowl of gruel to the kitchen, personally stewed it for a long time according to Xu Mu's method, and then brought it to Madam Zhu's room.
"Mother, I'm here to give you your medicine." Jiang Sheng slowly opened the door and entered. Xu Mu followed, while Qian Qian remained outside.
"Cough, cough..." Madam Zhu, lying pale in bed, opened her eyes and saw Jiang Sheng and Xu Mu.
"Ah, the little divine physician Mu Xu has arrived. Xiao Sheng, quickly find a chair for him to sit."
"There's no need, Madam Zhu. I will leave immediately after you finish this bowl of medicine." Xu Mu said, taking the bowl from Jiang Sheng and feeding it to her spoonful by spoonful. Her complexion instantly began to regain color at a visible rate, indicating an improvement in her condition.
Jiang Sheng's face lit up with joy, almost to the point of tears. Just as he was about to express his gratitude, Madam Zhu suddenly spat out a large mouthful of blood.
Pfft!
"Mother!"
Jiang Sheng's face turned pale with shock. He quickly leaned down to check. Wiping the black blood from the quilt, he looked at Xu Mu in a panic.
"Brother Mu Xu, what's happening!"
"Don't worry, this is poisonous blood. It's harmful to remain in the body," Xu Mu said calmly, feeling her pulse. Seeing that the situation was as he had predicted, he nodded with relief.
"From now on, come to my place every day at this time to get medicine. Unless you have bought the Thunder King Vine and Seven-Leaf Pure Lotus, please do not disturb me otherwise."
Xu Mu said, standing up with a calm expression. Madam Zhu's complexion had indeed turned slightly ruddy again, indicating a gradual improvement in her condition.
"Thank you, Brother Mu, Divine Physician Mu." Jiang Sheng and Madam Zhu thanked him simultaneously. Xu Mu waved his hand, turned, and left the room, returning to his own.
"Come on, Charles."
Xu Mu summoned Charles and took out a pile of metal, preparing to reconstruct his body.
"Just these shoddy things? Isn't this too rudimentary?" Charles said dismissively, looking at Xu Mu. His body was made of high-tech refined metals, far stronger than these ordinary ones.
More importantly, Xu Mu's room didn't even have a hammer. How could he forge metal?
"Stop being picky. You can build a better body for yourself later. For now, let's craft those difficult small parts, and then we'll move on to bigger ones."
Xu Mu said, picking up a piece of meteor iron and beginning to meticulously craft it under Charles's guidance.
Qiongqi, watching this scene, shook its head in confusion and then went to sleep.
Thus, for the following days, Xu Mu's time, apart from eating, sleeping, and cultivating, was spent forging Charles's body.
After consuming countless materials, all the necessary parts for Charles's body restoration were fabricated.
Nine days had passed, and tomorrow was the start of the Myriad Races Assembly preliminary qualifiers.
Xu Mu walked out of his room and happened to run into Jiang Sheng and Qian Qian, who had come looking for him. Seeing Xu Mu, their expressions were incredibly excited:
"The Thunder King Vine and Seven-Leaf Pure Lotus have finally been purchased!"