Chapter 50: Little Fox Spirit

Qin Mu's heart was filled with gratitude. He bowed deeply and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Senior. I will remember it always."

Gu Lihuan smiled and said, "If you are truly grateful, then cultivate quickly and slay the Dragon Mother's soul! If you have any difficulties, don't hesitate to ask me."

Qin Mu immediately activated the Core Qi Art. This technique required visualizing the *dantian* as a field, cultivating it as if with a plow, and sowing 'fire seeds' within it. Then, ten suns would appear above the *dantian*, nourishing the fire seeds until they grew strong, transforming the *dantian* into a furnace that burned with a blazing sacred flame.

Only after achieving minor success could one be considered to have initially mastered the Core Qi Art.

Once the Core Qi Art reached a minor level of achievement, controlling the sword would become effortless; the sword would move as the mind willed.

While it sounded simple, it was incredibly difficult in practice. Generating the sacred flame was not easy, and mastering the Core Qi Art was even harder, which was why it was divided into nine transformations. Qin Mu only needed to reach the first transformation for his sword control via *yuanqi* to far surpass his previous abilities, making it easy to catch up to the Dragon Mother's soul.

"Oh, your foundation is excellent!"

Gu Lihuan was surprised. In just a short while, Qin Mu had already cultivated his *dantian*, sown the fire seeds, and had ten suns appear above his *dantian* to nourish them.

This indicated that Qin Mu's cultivation was remarkably profound. For an ordinary martial artist, it would be difficult to even sow the fire seeds, let alone summon ten suns. They would need to constantly consume spiritual elixirs to replenish their *yuanqi* just to cultivate enough fire seeds.

Qin Mu, however, managed to fill his *dantian* with fire seeds and transform his *yuanqi* into ten suns to illuminate it, all without needing any elixirs. Such a level of cultivation was rare among martial artists in the Spirit Embryo realm.

"With his astonishing cultivation speed, perhaps he won't need ten days, or even two days. Tomorrow, he might complete the first transformation of the Core Qi Art, slay the Dragon Mother's soul, and free me!"

Gu Lihuan's eyes flickered. "Such an outstanding young genius... I really don't want to kill him like this."

He sighed inwardly, "But the Great Ruins is a land forsaken by gods. Not just the people living here, even an insect is guilty and must die. Besides, I'm still hungry. I haven't eaten anything in over fifty years..."

The time it took Qin Mu to complete the first transformation of the Core Qi Art was even shorter than Gu Lihuan had imagined. It was now nighttime, and the sky outside was gradually brightening, casting light through the waters of the Surging River onto the Dragon Palace at the bottom.

Qin Mu stood up. With a slight shift in his thoughts, his *yuanqi* instantly enveloped the Young Protector Sword. With a whoosh, the sword pierced through the thick mist, moving with the speed of light and lightning, incredibly swift!

Whizz, whizz, whizz—

The Young Protector Sword continuously sliced through the air. In an instant, Qin Mu controlled the treasured sword to unleash hundreds of dazzling stabs.

Although he didn't know sword arts, his simple stabbing motion was more terrifying than that of a sword sect disciple like Qianqiu from the Lijiang Sect.

This Core Qi Art was truly remarkable!

Qin Mu bowed deeply to Gu Lihuan again, expressing profound sincerity. "Thank you, Senior, for imparting this art. I will never forget your kindness."

Gu Lihuan laughed heartily and said, "You possess exceptional talent, which is why you could comprehend it so thoroughly and complete the first transformation of the Core Qi in such a short time. The little fox beside you certainly didn't cultivate as fast as you. Hurry, wield your sword and slay the Dragon Mother!"

He was overjoyed. With his freedom imminent, even a master like him couldn't help but feel a flutter of excitement, a mix of hope and apprehension.

"This boy saved me, and his talent is so high... I truly feel reluctant to kill him."

Just then, Qin Mu turned and walked away, carrying the Young Protector Sword and heading out of the Dragon Palace. His figure disappeared into the dense mist.

Gu Lihuan was stunned. Before he could even react, Qin Mu, along with the Young Protector Sword and Fox Spirit, had already exited the Dragon Palace, not lingering for a moment as they continued outward.

"Get back here!"

Gu Lihuan's furious roar echoed. He snarled, "You brat, you went back on your word! I taught you a technique and gave you a sword. Why aren't you slaying the Dragon Mother?"

Outside the palace, Qin Mu's voice faded into the distance: "Senior, the Dragon Mother did indeed kill many martial artists who entered this place with her Dragon Pearl, but the Dragon Pearl only turns them into dried corpses, living dead. There are many other skeletons in the Dragon Palace that did not die by the Dragon Pearl; they didn't become dried corpses, but mere skeletons."

Gu Lihuan paused, "You brat, when did you discover that?"

"I noticed it the moment I entered the Dragon Palace."

Gu Lihuan gritted his teeth, his voice chilling. "Are you really only twelve? Can a twelve-year-old boy perceive these things? Can he understand these matters? And even calmly turn my scheme against me?"

"This junior will only turn twelve this autumn; I'm currently eleven..." Qin Mu's voice grew fainter and fainter until it was completely inaudible.

From within the Dragon Palace, curses suddenly erupted, loud and clear, reaching the ears of Qin Mu and Fox Spirit, who had already gone far.

Fox Spirit poked her head out from his embrace, wondering, "Young Master Mu, how did you know he had malicious intentions?"

Qin Mu replied, "When we first arrived, I used my staff to push back the mist, and many dried corpses fell from the air. Did you notice that besides the dried corpses, there were also many desiccated skeletons?"

Fox Spirit nodded. She had noticed some of the desiccated skeletons were crushed by the falling dried corpses, and these skeletons were still wearing clothes.

"The clothes on the skeletons were official robes."

Qin Mu continued, "Gu Lihuan said he brought many of his disciples to train in the Great Ruins and discovered this underwater Dragon Palace. He claimed his disciples were killed by the Dragon Pearl. However, being killed by the Dragon Pearl should drain one's vital energy and blood, turning them into dried corpses, not skeletons. If they weren't killed by the Dragon Pearl, then how did they die?"

Fox Spirit suddenly understood and quickly said, "Gu Lihuan was leaning on a strange black banner in his other hand! His being frozen was a process, so he must have used that black banner to kill his disciples."

"When he was sealed in profound ice by the Dragon Pearl, unable to break free, he knew he would be trapped here for a long time. Given the constant power struggles in officialdom, even though his disciples bore the name 'disciples,' they were all officials of the Yankang Kingdom. With no true master-disciple bond, these people might not have informed the imperial court to rescue him. After all, an empty position as Crown Prince's Young Protector would benefit everyone."

Qin Mu nodded. "Since the court might not come to save him, he decided to go all out, directly killing his disciples and completely absorbing their vital energy and blood, lest he starve to death from being sealed for too long. However, his method must be different from the Dragon Mother's Dragon Pearl, more sinister, absorbing even the flesh and blood of his disciples, turning them into mere skeletons. Do you remember when we first entered the Dragon Palace, my Abandoned River Monk's Staff kept ringing?"

Fox Spirit recalled it. At the time, she had been clinging to Qin Mu's pant leg, trembling, and Qin Mu had even told her to move her tail.

"I initially thought the thoughts of the dried corpses were interfering with the Abandoned River Monk's Staff, causing it to ring constantly. But dried corpses are dead and have no consciousness. Then I thought it might be stray thoughts from the Dragon Mother's soul. However, strangely, when I came near Gu Lihuan, the staff stopped ringing. Clearly, it wasn't the Dragon Mother's stray thoughts, but Gu Lihuan's."

Qin Mu explained, "The staff stopped ringing then because Gu Lihuan no longer had any stray thoughts. His mind was made up. Since we were protected by the Abandoned River Monk's Staff and he couldn't devour us, he decided to use us to free himself!"

Fox Spirit was dumbfounded. After a moment, the little fox stammered, "Young Master Mu, are you really only twelve?"

"I'll only be twelve after autumn," Qin Mu said with a good-natured smile.

"Then you must be a fox spirit too?"

Fox Spirit exclaimed excitedly, "You must be a male fox spirit, and the super smart kind!"

Qin Mu poured out his grievances. "You have no idea what my childhood was like! I was tricked and swindled by a bunch of old men and women since I was little. Just before I came out hunting, Grandma tricked me into going to a chicken coop to pick up eggs. It was a chicken-dragon, and it beat me so badly I had to run for my life; I couldn't fight it at all! And Grandma just sneaked over and picked up the eggs herself!"

Not long after, they bypassed the pond and exited the Dragon King Temple.

Fox Spirit conjured a demonic wind, and Qin Mu walked on the wind. The boy and the fox arrived in front of the thatched hut by the waterfall. Qin Mu was eager to return to the village and was about to bid farewell when Fox Spirit chuckled, "You're all dirty and smelly right now, why rush back? There's a pool right by my waterfall; why don't you bathe first? I can wash your clothes for you. Once they're dry, you can put them on feeling fresh and clean, wouldn't that be better? Besides, I still have some cultivation questions I'd like to ask you."

Qin Mu hesitated, about to speak, when Granny Si's cold chuckle came from inside the thatched hut: "Bathing? Cultivation? Is it about harvesting Yin to supplement Yang, or harvesting Yang to supplement Yin?"

"Granny?"

Qin Mu was both surprised and delighted. "How are you here?"