Chapter Ninety-Five: Descending the Mountain to Destroy the Seven Star Pavilion

Zhong Tianyao had lost his way in the forest. Though he could not penetrate the deepest reaches of the mountains, he could clearly sense the path leading back out, and so he immediately fled along that route at full speed.

Rou'er had already discovered his movements through her divine sense and promptly informed Chen Mu that Zhong Tianyao intended to escape. Chen Mu gave an order, sending the fastest of the four-tier avian demon beasts to intercept him.

Zhong Tianyao sensed that one of the fourth-tier demon beasts was closing in on him at terrifying speed. He knew that if it caught him, he would very likely be left here forever, nothing more than fertilizer for this forest.

The distance between them shrank little by little. Zhong Tianyao’s eyes were nearly splitting with rage. He had never imagined that Chen Mu could actually enlist a fourth-tier demon beast to turn the tables and hunt him down. What right did Chen Mu have to do such a thing? It seemed the secrets hidden within that brat were not merely the power of vitality, but something else unknown to all.

Soon, Zhong Tianyao was caught, and man and beast plunged into a desperate struggle to the death.

Relying on its mighty body and astonishing speed, the avian beast kept swooping and ramming Zhong Tianyao from above. The violent force of its essence aura caught Zhong Tianyao completely off guard.

Zhong Tianyao was in such a sorry state that he could barely resist, frantically unleashing the Azure Heaven Thunder Art, the supreme technique of the Azure Heaven Dao Sect, while madly attacking the avian beast.

Before long, Zhong Tianyao had begun to suffer injuries. His strength was no longer what it once had been. He had originally survived into the present by relying on secret methods to cling to life, and his combat power had already fallen far behind.

Now he was fighting a demon beast capable of contending with a Soul Realm expert. Lasting more than a dozen exchanges was already considered impressive.

Behind him, Chen Mu’s main force was closing in. If they arrived, he would truly have no chance of escape.

With no other choice, Zhong Tianyao steeled himself and burned through the true essence within his nascent soul, forcing his speed even higher. His flight doubled once more, and the avian beast soon found itself unable to keep up, eventually losing its target.

Although Rou'er could still sense Zhong Tianyao’s position, there was no point in knowing if they could not catch him. Besides, the demon beasts could not possibly all follow Chen Mu out of the mountains to strut about the world as though they ruled it. Zhong Tianyao had escaped, but for them to have agreed to come and counter-hunt him for Chen Mu was already quite enough.

With no other option, Chen Mu and the others withdrew back into the depths of the mountains.

A few days later, after bidding farewell to the Wild Life Tree, Chen Mu and his group prepared to leave the mountains. Zhong Tianyao had suffered severe damage and would definitely not be causing trouble again anytime soon. So long as that Soul Realm expert did not come out, there was truly no one in the Great Xia whom Chen Mu feared.

The Azure Heaven Dao Sect had been overjoyed at their ancestor’s return, but when they saw Zhong Tianyao’s dark expression and his grievous wounds leaving him weak and dispirited, they all guessed that their ancestor must have suffered a crushing defeat in the Star-Ridge Mountain Range, and none dared make a sound.

They were also curious about what Zhong Tianyao had encountered inside the mountains that could have left him in such a miserable state. In their minds, once an ancestor had personally come forward, Chen Mu should have been nothing more than a jumping clown who could be dealt with in a matter of moments. Yet the one who had returned in defeat was their own ancestor. It seemed the Star-Ridge Mountain Range truly was a forbidden land for humankind.

What they were even more curious about was how Chen Mu had managed to thrive so comfortably in the mountains. Was he not afraid of the dangers and demon beasts within?

Not long after, Zhong Tianyao announced that he was entering seclusion. Everyone, however, knew that he was merely healing his injuries and recovering his strength.

As a result, the matter of forming the Dao Alliance was delayed, and the great sects all breathed a sigh of relief, especially the imperial family. A coalition so clearly unfavorable to them being postponed was naturally the best outcome.

By then, Xue Tian had heard that the Soul Realm expert of the Azure Heaven Dao Sect, Zhong Tianyao, had returned injured and entered seclusion. His wariness toward Chen Mu deepened even further. Yet Chen Mu had also brought him a piece of good news: since those righteous sects wanted to encircle and kill him, then he would turn around and annihilate their sects instead.

After all, although Xue Tian was still only at the peak of the Foundation Realm, his normal combat strength had already reached the peak of the Nascent Soul realm, and he now possessed the power to destroy a sect single-handedly, provided Zhong Tianyao did not interfere and cause trouble.

In recent days, Xue Tian had not begun by slaughtering the large sects and devouring their blood essence. Instead, he had proceeded cautiously, starting with some smaller factions.

Within half a month, two minor sects had been wiped out by Xue Tian, and everyone trembled in fear, finally beginning to grasp just how terrifying he was.

At first, Xue Tian had only secretly targeted ordinary commoners and rogue cultivators, so the great sects that proclaimed themselves righteous had merely condemned him with loud accusations. In truth, they had never taken his affairs seriously.

Now that Xue Tian had begun targeting the major sects, genuine panic started to spread among them.

At the same time, Chen Mu planned to rebuild Star-View Valley. Taking all the disciples of the Alchemy Pavilion with him, he returned to the former site of Star-View Valley and, under Gu Xingyuan’s leadership, began reconstructing it.

Chen Mu obtained a sect-protecting grand array and a trapping-and-killing array from Rou'er and handed them to Gu Xingyuan. Since Zhong Tianyao might come looking for trouble in the future, Rou'er had made these formations powerful enough to withstand any attack from a mid-stage Soul Realm expert, and the trapping-and-killing array was also sufficient to deal with a Soul Realm foe.

For Zhong Tianyao, whose strength had now fallen sharply, these two grand arrays were more than enough to handle him.

Thus, after Rou'er laid down the two formations, she followed Chen Mu out of the valley.

This time, Chen Mu intended to destroy Seven Stars Pavilion. Seven Stars Pavilion had also taken part in the extermination of Star-View Valley, so it could never be spared.

With Rou'er and the other three demon beasts at his side, Chen Mu planned to use Rou'er’s trapping formation to imprison everyone in Seven Stars Pavilion before unleashing a devastating strike.

With Rou'er’s assistance this time, there was no need to do what he had done before when assaulting Bright Moon Saber Sect, disguising his identity and infiltrating the sect from within. That had been far too troublesome.

Still, this plan only came to him after he happened to learn that Rou'er possessed a trapping formation. Moreover, the level of this formation did not need to be as absurdly powerful as the one he had given Gu Xingyuan. It merely had to be able to trap a Nascent Soul cultivator.

Seven Stars Pavilion was rather interesting. Rather than establishing their sect on some mountain or in some valley, they had built it within a city. Since Seven Stars Pavilion cultivated star-related techniques, they too had taken part in the plan to wipe out Star-View Valley, and they had long coveted it.

The pavilion itself was a spatial treasure. Its disciples lived and cultivated within it, inspiring envy from all the sects and factions around them.

Unfortunately, none of the generations of Pavilion Masters had been able to fully refine Seven Stars Pavilion. At best, they could only touch upon some of its superficial functions, such as laying down defensive and offensive arrays on it, allowing their disciples to enter and leave freely, and a few other negligible abilities.

After spending several days setting up a vast trapping formation outside the city where Seven Stars Pavilion stood, Chen Mu went to the pavilion gates and issued his challenge.

Hearing Chen Mu’s taunts, the disciples of Seven Stars Pavilion rushed out from the pavilion, glaring at him furiously. But the moment they realized it was Chen Mu, they all shrank back into the pavilion in fear.

The news had already spread. Even Zhong Tianyao of the Azure Heaven Dao Sect had suffered a setback and retreated while trying to hunt him down, and Chen Mu had previously fought his way in and out of the Azure Heaven Dao Sect itself. Since he had come to their Seven Stars Pavilion this time, he was surely here for revenge as well.

The Pavilion Master, hiding inside, snorted coldly. “Chen Mu, you little brat, do not push your luck too far! Do you really think this old man fears you? Do not court disaster. Leave at once, or this old man will make you regret it!”

Chen Mu sneered. “You wiped out my Star-View Valley and still have the nerve to say I’m pushing my luck? Today I’m going to push my luck too far. What are you going to do about it? If you’re not afraid of me, why are you still hiding inside that shabby tower? If you’re not afraid, then come out and fight me. I’d actually like to see how you plan to make me regret this. None of the Seven Stars Pavilion members will be left alive!”

The Pavilion Master was so choked by Chen Mu’s words that his face flushed red and his neck bulged, but he still let out a cold snort. “This old man will not lower himself to argue with you. I am going back into seclusion. Do whatever you like.”

He did not believe Chen Mu had the ability to break through a Nascent Soul-level defensive array. Yet Chen Mu happened to possess a strength that could briefly rise to the late Nascent Soul realm, and all those following him were demon beasts with Nascent Soul-level combat power. Thus, with one man and four beasts assaulting together, the people of Seven Stars Pavilion cried out in misery. Before long, the grand array was shattered.

The members of Seven Stars Pavilion all planned to scatter and flee. The moment Chen Mu broke the defensive array, they shot out from the pavilion and fled in all directions.

Chen Mu laughed coldly. Escape? He exchanged a glance with Rou'er, and she instantly trapped the entire city.

Chen Mu did not intercept everyone. Instead, he targeted only the elders, the upper ranks, and the Pavilion Master. Very quickly, the entire elder council was slain, leaving only the Pavilion Master, who stared at the scene in furious disbelief.

The other disciples of Seven Stars Pavilion were somewhat relieved when Chen Mu did not pursue them. But just as they reached the city gates, they suddenly slammed into a curtain of light and were sent reeling in agony.

Seeing that the entire city had been trapped by Chen Mu, the disciples of Seven Stars Pavilion were immediately filled with despair.

Everyone in the city could only watch as Chen Mu ran riot, slaughtering the people of Seven Stars Pavilion. Even the city lord did not dare breathe a word.

After all, the city lord was only at the Core Formation realm. With a sect he had to curry favor with being nearly annihilated before his eyes, what could he possibly do?

Fortunately, Chen Mu and the others did not slaughter indiscriminately. They only locked onto the people of Seven Stars Pavilion and pursued them to the death, which allowed many to breathe a sigh of relief.

When the demon beasts were sent after a group of disciples, those disciples suddenly cried out in panic, “We were once disciples of Star-View Valley as well. Please show mercy and spare us!”

Chen Mu looked at them indifferently. “If you were disciples of Star-View Valley, why are you in Seven Stars Pavilion?”

“The sect was about to be destroyed. We had no choice but to take refuge here.”

“Since you have already taken refuge in Seven Stars Pavilion, you are no longer disciples of Star-View Valley. If you are dogs of Seven Stars Pavilion, then you should accept the fate of being slaughtered. Kill them all.” Chen Mu did not even spare them a glance. In his eyes, these people were nothing but trash.

“You! You butcher!” The disciple still wanted to run, but a violent surge of essence force crashed down and took his life.

Just as Chen Mu had said, not a single one was left alive. Every last member of Seven Stars Pavilion was annihilated.

Only the Pavilion Master remained, still struggling desperately in Chen Mu’s grasp. Knowing he was doomed, he decided that even in death he would not let Chen Mu have an easy time, and prepared to detonate himself.

But Chen Mu released the Soul-Suppressing Tower, instantly seizing his soul and leaving him unable to move even an inch. This Pavilion Master was the only Nascent Soul expert in Seven Stars Pavilion, and a Nascent Soul was a great tonic for demon beasts. Chen Mu immediately ordered Yuan Shan to seize and devour it.

After all, Yuan Shan would not continue to follow him in the future, so Chen Mu decided to give him some benefits first, so that he would not end up owing Yuan Shan anything later.