Da Xuan Martial Saint

In the serpentine and rugged waterway.

Han Guang was entirely engulfed in a warm current, like a swiftly swimming fish, speeding through the water.

Behind him, the figure of Chen Mu dashed through the water like a flying shuttle, leaving a visible clear white line in his wake, a trail created by the boost of the Xun Wind Artistic Conception as he moved.

"Brother Chen, there's no need to chase me. I didn't do anything to your Sister Meng; her injury was inflicted by the Blood Hidden Pavilion. There's a clear distinction between debts of gratitude and those of vengeance... In this water, your Thunderclap Artistic Conception doesn't give you the speed advantage, catching up to me won't be so easy. If we keep this up, all the treasures in the underground cavern will be taken by the Hehuan enchantress and those swordsmen!"

As Han Guang fled, he gurgled these words through the water.

The sound traveled along the waterway and into Chen Mu's ears, but his face remained expressionless as he continued the pursuit without pause.

"Brother Chen, if I remember correctly, aren't you already betrothed? And isn't Meng Danyun also your beloved? It seems we pursue the same interests. In a few days, I can capture a Hehuan demoness for you to play with as a form of apology; how does that sound?"

Han Guang's messy voice continued to come through.

It wasn't entirely because he was talkative; he was actually in a lot of trouble. Relying solely on the 'River of Warm Spring' from the Warm Spring Artistic Conception wouldn't allow him to escape faster than Chen Mu in the water. If he recklessly bolted to the surface, Chen Mu would speed up while he would slow down, making escape impossible.

Only under the water did he have a slim chance of escape, but the problem was the complex environment of the underground cavern, which was also very unfamiliar. He wasn't clear on which way led to a dead end and which way afforded an escape route. Although he could perceive a little bit through his 'Spring Water,' the range was limited. If by chance he was cornered with no way out, then he would be trapped.

Though there was a chance he might just enter a favorable terrain and take the opportunity to slip away from Chen Mu, Han Guang didn't want to bet on luck, or rather, people from Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion never gambled on luck since they always acted according to the heavenly mechanism. If it came to a situation where they couldn't discern the heavenly mechanism and had to bet on fate, it usually meant they were at a dead end.

Chen Mu, of course, was very aware of this.

Therefore, he had no intention of letting Han Guang go. Even earlier, his first target had been Han Guang because the stewards of Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion were not to be feared, nor did they have a future. Only true disciples like Han Guang posed a real threat, being the ones who could potentially enter the Six Viscera Realm and even had a chance to glimpse the Marrow Cleansing Realm in the future.

Not that he feared anything, but when it came to trouble, one true disciple was far more significant than several stewards.

Worst case, after dealing with Han Guang, he would go back and search for those Mysterious Mechanism Pavilion stewards. Maybe Meng Danyun would follow him and leave some clues along the way. There was still a chance to catch those people.

Whoosh! Whoosh!!

The two figures shuttled through the waterway, sometimes entering a huge, interconnected underground cavern, sometimes squeezing into a narrow chamber with only one entrance and one exit.

After a short while of chasing, they had covered an unknown distance, and Chen Mu had gained a small portion of the cavern's layout in his mind, realizing that this underground cavern seemed even larger than he had anticipated. Especially during Han Guang's escape, the waterways they traversed often sloped downward, and they had descended hundreds of feet back and forth.

Suddenly.

Han Guang's figure suddenly vanished from sight.

Chen Mu followed closely and saw a narrow passage at the corner, just wide enough for one person to squeeze through. He saw Han Guang's figure disappear at the end, and after a brief flash in his eyes, he immediately gave chase.

The narrow passage wasn't very long, only about ten zhang, and Chen Mu quickly reached the end. However, almost as soon as he emerged from the passage, a burst of black water suddenly sprayed towards him.

It was a black snake, emitting a faint glow all over, spewing venom towards him from the water. Even before it got close, a strong sense of threat approached him, and the snake's body was surrounded by a tumultuous demonic power.

Blackwater Demon Snake!

Comparable to a fifth-rank mythical creature of the Five Viscera Realm!

Chen Mu's reaction was extremely fast. He instantly struck forward with his palm, and in an instant, the water channel burst, sending the venom mixed with demonic power recoiling back due to the fierce wind from his palm.

"Hahaha, Brother Chen, we shall meet again!"

A loud laugh from Han Guang came from the distance. He could be seen already at the other end of the cavern, diving into an upward slanting passage and disappearing into it, having somehow bypassed the Blackwater Demon Snake.

Hiss-hiss.

The Blackwater Demon Snake seemed extremely angry, hissing loudly as it shot towards Chen Mu with sudden aggression. Its body was not large, no different from an ordinary little snake, but its speed was extremely fast, reaching Chen Mu in an instant.

A cold light flashed in Chen Mu's eyes as he raised the Flowing Fire Blade in his hand, blocking a strike at a very close distance against the highly agile Blackwater Demon Snake, and after several exchanges, he gripped the hilt with both hands and swept out fiercely.

Crash!!!

In the stone cave's water channel, a gap spanning several zhang split open, and thunder arcs exploded underwater, covering the Blackwater Demon Snake. However, its body seemed incredibly tough; it endured the thunder strikes seemingly without any harm, and despite several collisions with the Flowing Fire Blade, it only had a few white marks on its scales.

"Hiss…"

After being struck by Chen Mu's thunder, the Blackwater Demon Snake's crimson eyes seemed to express a human-like fury. Its head then reared back as a surge of demonic power gathered, with water from nearby rapidly converging into a glowing orb, which fell towards Chen Mu and exploded into a torrential flood in the water.

Chen Mu, however, did not pay much attention to it. Harnessing the power of the Xun Wind Artistic Conception, he instantly avoided the flood and quickly passed the Blackwater Demon Snake, heading toward the other side of the cavern. In this underwater environment, the Blackwater Demon Snake held the advantage; although he was confident he could kill it if he continued to fight, it would waste too much time.

"Hiss-hiss."

Seeing Chen Mu bypass it and head towards the other side of the cavern, the Blackwater Demon Snake's demonic eyes flickered with crimson light, yet it stopped in place and did not pursue. The collisions moments ago had made it understand that Chen Mu posed a significant threat and was not prey it should pursue.

Chen Mu dodged the black water demon snake and pursued Han Guang into the tunnel he had fled into.

Actually, he had been repeatedly hindered by the black water demon snake, and there was enough time for Han Guang to completely shake him off, but he still continued the chase, because this was predicated on one condition… that this path wasn't a dead end!

As Han Guang fled under Chen Mu's relentless pursuit, every cave he entered had an exit. This was partly due to his decent perception underwater, and partly due to good fortune; after all, in such a complex underground cavern environment, there certainly exist countless dead-end passages with only a single route, including the one in front of him now.

This was a tunnel sloping upward.

When Chen Mu finally reached the end, he suddenly felt lightness in his body, as he leapt out of the water in an instant.

"Huh?"

Chen Mu looked around and saw that he was still in an underground cavern, now standing above a small pool, the bottom of which was the tunnel he had come through.

According to his pursuit so far, he judged that this place should still be two hundred zhang beneath the ground.

And this underground cavern wasn't completely dark; rather, it had spots of fluorescent light. These were from the jade veins in the rocky walls, shining with red or blue light like stars under the night sky.

And almost at the moment Chen Mu was observing his surroundings.

Suddenly.

A figure burst from the darkness, attempting to dive into the pool.

But as if expecting this, Chen Mu waved his Flowing Fire Blade, casting out a blaze of fierce firelight. Not only did he block the person's path, but he also fully illuminated the cave, revealing a figure holding a bamboo stick—it was undoubtedly Han Guang.

"Not a bad place to be buried."

With a swing of his blade, Chen Mu forced Han Guang to retreat several steps, preventing him from diving into the pool, and then coldly spoke to him.

From the moment he leapt out of the pool and left the water, his 'Autumn Wind Sense' had already clearly perceived the entire subterranean cavern. There were no other paths aside from this pool; it was simply a dead end!

Han Guang might have sensed the presence of the black water demon snake and made a decision to try and use it to shake Chen Mu off. The demon snake did indeed briefly stop him, but cleverness can sometimes backfire. The passage he chose led to this stone cave, which had no other way out.

...

Han Guang looked terrible, as if he had swallowed a dead toad.

The situation he most feared had come to pass. Although he had some perceptiveness in water, it wasn't accurate here in this special cave, which wasn't completely flooded, and he had thought there would be another way out. But it was a dead end, and if he had not chosen to use the black water demon snake earlier but had taken a different route to continue fleeing, perhaps there might have been a chance.

But now, he had made a fatal misstep and found himself in a dead-end, with the only retreat blocked by Chen Mu.

Swish!

Without wasting words, Chen Mu lifted his Flowing Fire Blade. In an instant, the winds picked up and lightning struck, with fierce fire swirling and merging into a towering blaze that extended several zhang long and slashed down directly over Han Guang's head.

This time was not underwater, and the force of Chen Mu's strike was even greater!

Han Guang had nowhere to retreat and had to desperately defend himself. He waved his bamboo stick upward, stirring up a surge of water from the pool. The warm current clashed with the descending Thunderfire Blade in the air and with a loud boom, exploded, spreading a mist throughout the cavern. The water split in two from the center, and along with a line of fire, scorched across his shoulder and down his body!

"I… am not reconciled…"

Han Guang uttered a cry and then his body fell backwards. His Mysterious Robe caught flame, and the life force and aura extinguished rapidly from him under Chen Mu's perception.

Chen Mu watched coldly as the scene unfolded and then slowly stepped forward toward Han Guang, whose body was burning steadily, emanating a charred smell. A burnt crack spread from his left shoulder to his right side. His eyes, which seemed to still hold resentment, were dim and lifeless.

There was no sign of life on the entire corpse.

Swish.

With a wave of his hand, Chen Mu extinguished all the flames. Experience more on empire

After a brief moment of contemplation, he slowly crouched down, then abruptly lifted the Flowing Fire Blade in his hand and plunged it downward, piercing Han Guang's chest with one strike.

"Ahh!!"

The 'corpse' of Han Guang cried out.

The lifeless eyes suddenly widened, fixed on Chen Mu as the body writhed, trying to struggle with something. But the blade of Chen Mu's Flowing Fire Blade, which had pierced his chest, suddenly burst forth with the overwhelming power of wind and thunder, shredding his Five Viscera and Six Viscera cleanly in an instant.

With an expressionless face, Chen Mu pulled out the blade and then swung it again, decapitating Han Guang's head from his neck.

This time, there were no more screams.