Enlightenment: Beginning as a Disposable Warrior

Huh?

Just as Su Mu was about to turn and leave, he suddenly let out a surprised exclamation. His five fingers reached out, and the Pill Force surged as he picked up a smooth, small stone the size of a green jujube from a pile of strange rocks and powder.

This unremarkable little stone surprisingly contained a hint of the aura of Gang Force’s embryonic form. If Su Mu had obtained such a stone in the past, he might have long comprehended and mastered Gang Force.

"Interesting, I’ll keep it for now."

Su Mu casually stored it into the Sumeru Ring, thinking that the stone might be useful in the future, either for trading or as a gift.

Currently, Su Mu has no intention of breaking through to Gang Force right away. Through inference, he saw that during the process of reaching Gang Force, one’s strength would actually experience a brief period of ’weakness’ and decline.

After condensing the true Gangjin Pill, it also takes some time to solidify and strengthen it, only then will the strength begin to surpass the current state.

If Su Mu was indifferent and ruthless, he could completely find a secluded place to start the breakthrough.

But right now, that’s not possible; Su Mu is not a cold-blooded person.

"The three masters are still in the hands of the Black Mountain Army... First, rescue the three masters!"

Su Mu hasn’t forgotten about the three masters. Even though the Black Mountain Army needs them to forge treasure artifacts and won’t harm them immediately.

Yet, he always considers problems from the worst-case scenario.

Just as he would not entrust his own life to others, he also could not entirely put the fate of the three masters in the hands of the Black Mountain Army.

"Before that, let’s return to Qingshui Town first."

Previously, Su Mu was seriously injured and couldn’t take Qinghe along, so he had to let the people from Iron Fist Martial Arts Hall take care of her for a while.

Now that he has fully recovered, his strength surpassing before, Su Mu plans to take Qinghe back to Qingyun City and then send her to the Forging Workshop to let Uncle Wu look after her for some time.

Moreover, he also plans to gather some information from the Demon Slayer Bureau to verify whether Gao Feng’s words are true.

As for carrying the Dharma Seal to visit the Vajra Temple, in Su Mu’s mind, it is still less important than the three masters and Qinghe. Visiting the Vajra Temple can be done at any time in the future.

However, before that, Su Mu has one more matter to attend to. He looked at the second Sumeru Ring on his right hand. He once consulted Zen Heart in the dungeon on how to break the restrictions of the Sumeru Ring, aiming to acquire Gongsun Xin’s belongings.

The Sumeru Ring needs to be recognized by the owner before use, which requires dripping blood and imprinting spiritual power.

"The spiritual power imprint on an unowned Sumeru Ring will gradually weaken over time. Just inject a stronger spiritual force into it to forcibly erase it... But if the residual spiritual power is stronger than the subsequent one, there might be spiritual backlash."

Su Mu recalled Zen Heart’s words in his mind. He could naturally let Zen Heart handle it, but ultimately, Su Mu did not choose to do so.

"I might as well try it, the strength of spiritual power, huh?"

In the martial arts he learned, there was no method for cultivating spiritual power, nor for controlling it.

So he first activated the Dragon of Spiritual Power at the center of his brow, cautiously partitioning a strand of spiritual power to probe inside.

Soon, Su Mu sensed the remaining spiritual imprint of Gongsun Xin.

According to Zen Heart’s explanation, just activating the spiritual power to clash with it would suffice, as spiritual power naturally possesses exclusive properties; upon contact, they will naturally contest.

Su Mu hesitated and then followed suit.

The next moment.

Su Mu was startled, unable to hide a strange expression on his face, the Dragon of Spiritual Power was also stalling at his brow, not because Gongsun Xin’s remaining spiritual imprint was too strong.

But it was too weak, it shattered upon mere contact.

"So weak... Could the weakening speed of the spiritual imprint after the owner’s death be so fast?"

...