Enlightenment: Beginning as a Disposable Warrior

Chapter 280 - 181: Plumage Transforms to Wings, Flying in the Sky!

The divine posture matched the Fire Sparrow carcass perfectly in the cave, and each feather gleamed with a flame-like radiance.

"Flying in the Sky?!"

Yao Qing’s fleeing steps suddenly halted, showing a look of longing. Yao Qing wasn’t originally from Qingyun County; his ancestors were from Qingzhou, only later did his family fall into decline.

His family’s "Qingzhou Miscellaneous Talks" clearly recorded: Flying in the Sky is a divine ability that can only be touched by an Upper Three Grade Grandmaster Realm!

Flying in the Sky was precisely the divine ability Yao Qing yearned for the most, but he had never witnessed such a great divine ability.

Until a red thread descended from the sky, and with the chilling killing intent pierced between his brows, causing blood beads to seep out, Yao Qing was still unaware of the looming death, remaining immersed in the shock of the scene.

"Splat!"

The Red Flame Spear pierced through his chest, and it was only when the excruciating pain reached his brain that Yao Qing suddenly realized death was upon him. He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately failed to make a sound.

At the moment of death, Yao Qing continued to stare blankly at the dazzling and radiant Fire Sparrow Wings behind Su Mu.

Su Mu flicked his wrist and withdrew the spear, causing Yao Qing’s body to go limp and fall heavily to the ground.

"The flight ability of Fire Sparrow Transformation consumes a lot; even for me now, it’s difficult to sustain continuous usage... Nevertheless, it’s more than enough as a means of survival; the speed is far beyond what ordinary Lightweight Skills can achieve!"

Su Mu sensed a sudden drop of over ten percent in his Pill Force within his body; relying solely on his own Power, fully exerting it might only last less than twenty breaths.

Despite this, Su Mu’s eyes remained fiery. This flight ability was a surprising gain after he inscribed the Fire Sparrow Pattern on both his palms, which was the greatest surprise Fire Sparrow Transformation brought him.

As long as he fully activates the Fire Sparrow Pattern in both palms, combined with Fire Sparrow Breathing, he can temporarily evolve his arms, mastering a certain degree of flight ability.

This was Su Mu’s first attempt at the evolution of his arms with Fire Sparrow Transformation, and the results seemed promising, even causing Yao Qing, who saw the Fire Sparrow Wings for the first time, to be stunned motionless.

Su Mu then moved his thoughts, deactivating the Fire Sparrow Transformation state. As the Fire Sparrow Pattern in his palms dimmed, the feathered wings dispersed with the wind.

Clang!

Su Mu casually shook by hand, disassembled the Red Flame Spear into three parts in the air, and stored them in the Sumeru Ring.

Then Su Mu skillfully searched Yao Qing’s body, quickly found a small bundle of silver notes, around three hundred or so, along with a sheepskin scroll and a book wrapped in burlap.

Looking at the sheepskin scroll, Su Mu’s eyes lit up; it clearly contained a design of an Ancient Sword. At a glance, Su Mu felt the Ancient Sword depicted on the sheepskin scroll was extraordinary.

"Good stuff, might be useful in the future."

Contentedly, Su Mu stored the sheepskin scroll in the Sumeru Ring, and his gaze fell on the wrapped book. He initially thought it would be some Martial Arts Secret Manual, but upon review, he found it was a book of miscellaneous talks.

"’Qingzhou Miscellaneous Talks’?"

Seeing the four big characters, Su Mu thought it was likely about Qingzhou’s local customs and promptly stored it in the Sumeru Ring. Soon, Su Mu quickly looted Gao Feng’s possessions as well.

Besides some silver notes and ordinary pills, Su Mu also found a secret manual, which upon inspection, had four sharp large characters: "Gold Element Divine Skill."

Su Mu hesitantly began reading through it, soon realizing this secret manual also lacked the crucial Organ Tempering Method.

"It doesn’t seem to be a coincidence; surely the Black Mountain Celestial King did it intentionally."

Immediately, Su Mu came to a judgment. The Black Mountain Celestial King divided a complete set of "Five Elements Technique" into five Chapters, teaching it to his subordinates, deliberately omitting the Organ Tempering Method within. This way, even if the Cultivation Technique were lost, others gaining them would be futile.

"Quite the calculation."

Su Mu retracted the secret manual, grasping in the void, unleashed his Power to retrieve the Long Saber from the ground into his hand, drawing out three inches to inspect, soon uttering a light ’hmm.’

Then he directly drew the Long Saber completely, eyes slightly squinting to examine it.

Su Mu quickly noticed the numerous flaws in the inscribed inscriptions on the Long Saber, seemingly unintentionally made, like done carelessly. But if consecutively appearing in dozens of places, it could not be a coincidence.

The field of inscriptions cannot be understood even by outsiders witnessing the excitement; only Blacksmiths can peer into the mysteries therein. These numerous flaws in one place weakened the Long Saber’s might by at least twenty to thirty percent.

"It was certainly intentionally done by the three master craftsmen... Otherwise, iron of such quality should have been able to forge a Seventh-Grade Treasure Artifact, not an Eighth-Grade."

Su Mu’s mouth slightly curved upward. Since the three master craftsmen still managed to make some tricks with the inscriptions, Gao Feng’s words earlier were indeed true; the three master craftsmen’s lives were secure, well-fed by the Black Mountain Army.

But Su Mu did not know, should the three master craftsmen hear Su Mu’s words now, their faces would surely turn red with embarrassment. Su Mu evidently overestimated them, although they did fiddle with the Blade Soldiers for the Black Mountain Army, they indeed couldn’t forge a Seventh-Grade Treasure Artifact.

"I wonder where the Black Mountain Army found these good quality iron materials?"

The iron materials used in forging this saber were something Su Mu had never seen before. As he reached his hand to gently stroke the blade, his eyes suddenly focused, feeling the Fire Sparrow Pattern in his palm vibrating.

"This sharpness?!"

Earlier, Su Mu’s focus was entirely on the inscriptions of the Long Saber, besides Gao Feng only managed to swing one slash before being pierced by Su Mu’s spear, leading Su Mu to finally notice the extraordinary sharpness now.

"No mistake, this sharpness originates from the same source as the White Tiger’s Sharpness that lingered on the Fire Sparrow’s wounds!"

Thoughts swirling rapidly, Su Mu recalled the mystical Red Wood; this iron material was likely the same, only stained with the blood of the Dangling Eye White Tiger.

Before long, Su Mu’s thoughts were interrupted, not far away Yan Xiaolan finally snapped back from the shock, belatedly hesitating to speak.

"Elder Lin... is it really you?"

"Absolutely."

Su Mu thought of the Fire Sparrow that perished in the cave, now seeing the Dangling Eye White Tiger was most likely not faring well either, probably severely wounded in that battle.

And that Yan Xiaolan and her siblings obtained the Fire Sparrow’s opportunity, it wasn’t impossible for the Black Mountain Army’s Celestial King to gain some opportunity from the Dangling Eye White Tiger as well.

With this thought, Su Mu grew increasingly wary of that Black Mountain Celestial King.

"I need to return to the cave first; afterward, you guide me on a trip to Canghe Town."

"Alright... I, I’ll wait for Elder Lin outside."

Listening to these words, Yan Xiaolan saw Su Mu intended to fulfill his promise, letting out a silent breath of relief, excited and joyful. Just earlier, having witnessed Su Mu brutally killing two people, her heart was trembling, fearing Su Mu would silence her as well.

Su Mu returned to the Fire Sparrow Cave, reaching out for the Fire Sparrow carcass after entering the Fire Sparrow Transformation state for the first time. A strand of Fire Sparrow Power circulated within the carcass, then returned.

He sensed the blood within the Fire Sparrow’s body was nearly depleted; the Fire Sparrow wasn’t born for Yan Xiaolan, nor for Su Mu. It simply failed to withstand the White Tiger’s Sharpness and perished in Cyan Cloud, most of its blood had been consumed during healing.

Su Mu then took out a Jade Jar to collect the remaining Fire Sparrow Blood from the Blood Pool, storing about one-third of the jar’s capacity, having no intention to damage the Fire Sparrow carcass further or carve out some flesh to take away.

He bowed with hands clasped before the Fire Sparrow carcass.

Perhaps future adventurers will discover this cave and acquire opportunities from the Fire Sparrow carcass, but none of that concerns Su Mu, as he has already obtained enough and significant opportunities this time.

"It’s time to leave... I wonder how that Qinghe girl is doing? After handling the Changping Dao matter, I should first return to Qingshui Town, then head to the Black Mountain Army."

Su Mu stored the wheelchair back in the Sumeru Ring, quickly turned, and left.

Outside the cave, Yan Xiaolan waited respectfully.

"Let’s go."

Months ago, Yan Xiaolan was pushing the bloodless Su Mu up Great Mist Mountain. Months later, the two descended side by side, Yan Xiaolan still behind, but Su Mu no longer sitting in a wheelchair.

After leaving Baihe Town, less than a hundred miles covered, Su Mu had to stop, turning back to see the panting Yan Xiaolan behind, frowning slightly.

"These secret manuals are useless to me; they’re yours."

Su Mu’s hand emitted Spiritual Light, casually tossing out several secret manuals, causing Yan Xiaolan to freeze, quickly catching them with both hands.

Looking closely, she found four secret manuals: "Rock Shattering Fist," "Feixu Skill," "Qingfeng Swordsmanship," and "Red Fire Technique," encompassing Fist Technique for Refining Force, Cross-Training Martial Arts for Bone Tempering, Lightweight Body Technique, and a Swordsmanship.

Yan Xiaolan’s fingers slightly trembled as she brushed over the martial arts tomes, feeling a bit emotional; the four martial arts were highly suitable for her, this was certainly not a casual gift.

"Thank you, Elder Lin!"

"You may ponder these over the next few days; should questions arise, I will clarify them for you."