Chapter 68: Breaking Through a Street

Although dragon coins were not large, three thousand six hundred of them constituted a significant sum, weighing over ten pounds together. Qin Mu casually hung the money bag on the handle of the pig-slaughtering knife on his back, thinking to himself, "This chubby Young Master Qi is indeed generous."

Young Master Qi's eyes lit up as they fell upon the pig-slaughtering knife on Qin Mu's back. He smiled, "If you're willing to sell that knife, I can offer you an even better price!"

Qin Mu shook his head. "This knife is much better than those jars. I'm not selling it."

"You're right. Your knife's material alone surpasses that of the jars."

Young Master Qi handed the jars to a nearby attendant and chuckled, "These jars were refined by a divine ability practitioner in the Six Harmonies realm. They are a set of thirty-six spirit weapons called the Thirty-Six Heavenly Star Jars, capable of forming the Heavenly Dipper Demon Refining Array. Although they're a bit broken, their power remains. I don't really need them; I just planned to take them out of the Great Ruins and sell them to royalty and nobles for a profit. I've seen the Thirty-Six Heavenly Star Jars before, which is how I recognized them. Your discerning eye is exceptional; have you seen them before as well?"

Behind him, an attendant coughed and said, "Young Master Qi, traveling incognito as a commoner isn't safe."

Young Master Qi replied unhappily, "You're meddling too much! It takes all the fun out of going out!" With that, he shook his head and departed.

Qin Mu knew that Young Master Qi was accompanying Qin Feiyue, who treated him with great respect, indicating his unusual status. It was understandable that his attendants didn't want him to be in danger.

As he was about to leave, the vendor who had sold him the jars suddenly grabbed his sleeve corner and shouted, "Don't go! Those jars were worth over three thousand dragon coins, yet you tried to buy them with just one! You owe me compensation!" With that, he lunged for the money bag on Qin Mu's back.

Qin Mu frowned. Suddenly, his hair stood on end, sensing imminent danger. Someone in the alley swiftly moved close to him. With a flick of their sleeve, a strange weapon slid out from the cuff. It resembled two curved blades joined together, with both ends curved and exceptionally sharp.

The person's palm faced downwards, yet the strange weapon, instead of falling, whirled rapidly beneath their palm, then suddenly slashed towards Qin Mu's neck!

Qin Mu's vital qi surged into his feet, and his body abruptly shifted backward. Just as the vendor was about to grab his money bag, Qin Mu had already retreated a good distance away.

The blade glinted. The attacker, moving like a shadow, stuck close to Qin Mu, their palm pressing against the strange blade as it spun up and down. Qin Mu hastily looked closer and saw a thin thread connecting the strange blade to the attacker's palm. The blade had curved edges on both sides, with the handle in the middle, and the thread was tied to this handle.

"Cultivating qi into a thread, controlling a blade with qi? He's a martial artist!"

This martial artist's blade technique was extremely bizarre. Their footwork was slippery, like a loach darting about. The technique primarily focused on cutting and was exceptionally sharp when executed in the narrow alley. Bright blade light arced downwards, cutting with considerable force.

At the same time, Qin Mu noticed other people in the alley eager to join, standing up one by one.

Clearly, that bag of dragon coins had ignited their greed!

Over three thousand dragon coins was certainly a large fortune, enough to provoke both greed and murderous intent!

"End this quickly!"

Qin Mu suddenly stopped, and his vital qi surged powerfully into both his fists.

His footwork shifted, vital qi flowed through his arms to his fingertips, and his fingers clenched into fists. Just as his fist was about to collide with the martial artist's strange blade, his fingers suddenly shot out from his fist like powerful crossbow bolts!

It was the second form of the Eight Forms of Thunder Sound: Startling Thunder with a Finger Snap, Pipa Hand!

*Clang!*

His first finger flicked out, its force whistling through the air, knocking the rapidly spinning blade upwards. His second finger flicked out, snapping the qi thread in the martial artist's hand.

Qin Mu's third finger flicked, striking the martial artist's palm. The martial artist grunted, their palm a bloody mess with a large hole torn through it.

Each of Qin Mu's finger strikes contained immense vital qi. Although his vital qi couldn't exert power like White Tiger's vital qi, it was incredibly dense, and the physical strength it imparted was astonishing. Three flicked fingers neutralized the martial artist's attack, after which he drew his fingers back into a fist and slammed it into the martial artist's chest.

The force of the punch bent the martial artist's body, sending them stumbling backward.

Alone in the East Sea, carrying spring thunder!

Qin Mu accelerated, rushing towards the martial artist before they could even fall. Fear appeared in the martial artist's eyes, but suspended in mid-air, they couldn't resist.

At this moment, two martial artists from either side of the alley, seeing Qin Mu charge towards the first martial artist, instantly lunged at him without hesitation.

*Thud!*

*Thud! Thud!*

Before those two martial artists could even unleash their first moves, Qin Mu's fists seemed to grow larger and larger. They were flung backward as if struck in the face by a savage earth dragon, their heads embedding into the wall while their bodies below the neck hung limply against it!

The wall cracked like a spiderweb from the impact.

Meanwhile, the martial artist who had been punched in the chest by Qin Mu received another heavy blow. This punch was even fiercer than the last, sending them flying backward faster than before, without their feet touching the ground!

Figures flashed in the alley, followed by resounding thuds. Young Master Qi and his divine ability practitioner attendants had not yet exited the alley when they heard the commotion behind them. They stopped, looked back, and showed surprise.

The martial artist, flung back for the third time, came hurtling towards Young Master Qi. The divine ability practitioners frowned slightly, about to intervene, but Young Master Qi chuckled, "No need, let's just step aside."

The group stepped aside, only to see Qin Mu, like a whirlwind, sticking close behind the martial artist. His fists and palms moved like a frenzy of lightning, combining hard and soft techniques, both long and short range. With one final devastating punch, the martial artist was blasted out of the alley and, with a loud crash, slammed into the opposite wall, where he remained stuck.

The wall was shattered by the martial artist's impact, their body stuck within it, arms and legs hanging limply, unable to move.

Behind Qin Mu, over a dozen martial artists had their heads embedded in the walls, their bodies hanging from the surfaces, limbs flailing, unable to free themselves for a moment.

"Impressive skill!"

The divine ability practitioners praised him repeatedly. One of them whispered, "Young Master, this person moves like surging waves, splitting the air with astonishing force. He's using an extremely powerful combat technique. If his recent punches and kicks could break through their limits, they would be considered divine abilities!"

Young Master Qi asked in surprise, "He's using combat techniques?"

"Top-tier combat techniques!"

Young Master Qi nodded slightly. "I've heard stories from back then. The Imperial Preceptor debated with masters of combat techniques and killed countless cultivators of those techniques. Since then, combat techniques have been considered inferior to divine abilities and deemed heretical. Many heretics fled into the Great Ruins. Could he be a disciple of one of them..."

Another attendant whispered, "Dragon-Imprinting City isn't Yan Kang. It's a mixed bag of desperate and vicious characters here, so we must proceed with caution. This young man likely has remnants of those old heretics behind him. Young Master, let's go see the general as soon as possible."

Qin Mu had not intended to kill. He had held back most of his strength during the fight, but sending over a dozen martial artists crashing into the walls was certainly startling enough. Of course, this was nothing to him; he had fought against Grandpa Ma and others in the village, and against the Ape Devil and Hu Ling'er outside the village, always going all out.

"It's not safe to carry so many dragon coins. I should buy some things and then send the rest back to the inn for Granny."

The young man, however, didn't dwell on the incident. On his way, he bought some silks and satins and had them delivered to the inn, intending to get a few more sets of clothes for Grandpa Ma and the village chief.

Qin Mu also bought some novelty items, intending to give them to Grandpa Ma, Cripple, and the others. Only then did he return to the inn, where he was surprised to find Granny Si not in her room; she had gone out at some unknown time.

Blind Man was also nowhere to be seen.

"It's rare to come here, so I should really experience the world."

Qin Mu took out about a hundred dragon coins, hid the rest of his money, and then left the inn to explore. Dragon-Imprinting City at night was extraordinarily lively, truly an eye-opener for him: there were martial arts competitions, arena fights, opera performances, dragon dances, and even revenge-seekers.

As he took it all in, he unconsciously wandered to the center of Dragon-Imprinting City. The buildings here were even more grand and imposing, with many ancient structures likely left behind by people from before the Great Ruins were shrouded in darkness. Temples and shrines stood impressively.

Qin Mu activated his Divine Heaven's Eye. Gazing at the ancient buildings, he marveled. To others, the divine statues here were ordinary, but in his eyes, they were radiant deities!

He observed each one, feeling little fear towards these deities, yet not disrespecting them. He simply admired the divine craftsmanship in their sculpting.

Dragon-Imprinting City was built upon a massive ruin. The stone statues here were creations of gods and devils from a distant era. From their carving techniques, Qin Mu could discern a fluid, uncanny craftsmanship, as if he glimpsed various exquisite divine abilities within them.

"It seems many cultivation techniques can be gleaned from these stone statues."

Qin Mu mused admiringly. Suddenly, a middle-aged man approached, smiling, "Young man from the countryside, want to earn some money? I have a way for you. The City Lord's Manor is recruiting people for arena fights. Win one match, and they'll give you a hundred dragon coins!"

Qin Mu shook his head.

The middle-aged man then sought out others and found another young man, who excitedly followed him into the City Lord's Manor.

"Arena fights at the City Lord's Manor? What is this City Lord of Dragon-Imprinting City planning?" Qin Mu wondered.

Just then, a voice burst into hearty laughter: "Since the death of Li Tianxing, the Heavenly Devil Cult Master, the Cult Master's wife has always been elusive, disappearing without a trace. I never expected her to grace my Dragon-Imprinting City with her presence. Your arrival from afar brings great honor to Dragon-Imprinting City!"

The voice was exceedingly loud, clearly indicating profound cultivation. Qin Mu's eardrums buzzed, and many pedestrians on the street were even knocked unconscious by the shockwave!

Qin Mu was surprised. "The Cult Master's wife? Could it be Granny?"

"The City Lord is too kind," a captivating and alluring voice replied.

Upon hearing this voice, Qin Mu felt his mouth go dry, as if countless inner demons were leaping from his heart, singing and dancing.

On the street, countless pedestrians suddenly began to flail their limbs, laugh hysterically, their faces contorted, their expressions wild, as if they were drunk.

After a moment, these people returned to normal, looking at each other in confusion, unsure of what had just happened.