Enlightenment: Beginning as a Disposable Warrior

Better one trouble less than one trouble more, especially when the dead are Tao Family people.

"No one in the County Mansion is allowed to provoke Wang Chan… or the Li Family."

"No one may get involved in the conflict between the Tao Family and the Li Family."

"Tao Shengjiang is dead… this Commandery City will not be peaceful anymore."

The few streams of qi hidden in the dark quickly sank into complete silence, no longer spying, only rushing to secretly warn clan members and subordinate forces not to provoke Wang Chan and the Li Family.

Sensing the old monsters in the Commandery City falling quiet, Li Heng, shocked, came to stand beside the White Flood Dragon Ancient Sword.

By the Ancient Sword's side, a silver‑haired little girl manifested, her face full of reluctant attachment as she gazed in the direction Su Mu had left. This scene entered Li Heng's eyes, and for no reason his heart twisted fiercely, a sour ache surging up in his chest.

It had been over thirty years since he'd brought the White Flood Dragon Ancient Sword out of that ruin, and this senior sword spirit, White Spirit, had almost never shown Li Heng any good face.

The wine‑sword recluse Li Heng, once renowned in Qingzhou, in Senior White Spirit's mouth was merely someone with passable sword‑dao aptitude.

This was the first time Li Heng had seen Senior White Spirit with such eager, gentle expression.

As he opened his mouth to speak, a sidelong white glare fell in an instant. Li Heng's words stuck in his throat, the corner of his mouth twitched, and he could only let out a bitter smile.

"Ahem… Senior, let's go back."

Only after several breaths did he receive a response.

"Fine."

...

"Pfft!"

Deep in the dense reed marsh, after exiting his Limit-Breaking State, Su Mu spat several mouthfuls of fresh blood in succession. Once the Gangjin Pill settled down, the cloth garments that wind and rain could not penetrate and dust could not cling to were soaked in blood.

The instant the fresh blood seeped into the lake water, it sizzled; the calm lake was steamed by the scalding blood into a bank of mist.

After a long while, Su Mu settled his breath.

At this moment the injuries inside his body were in no way lesser than that night, even more severe, but his physique now was far from what it had been. Within Introspection, the wounds looked horrifying.

Yet as Su Mu let out a slow breath, the Gangjin Pill at his Dantian once more began to rotate lightly, radiance blooming; Fire Sparrow Gang Force coursed through his limbs and hundreds of meridians, then flowed into his Five Viscera.

"Thump, thump, thump!"

The heart beneath his chest beat with powerful force; this mighty physique, on the verge of collapse, erupted with tremendous potential.

As new blood began to be produced in an unending stream, Fire Sparrow Gang Force recovered with his breathing.

Shattered tendons and bones began slowly self‑repairing.

"At this speed, for my body to fully heal on its own will probably take five to six months… with my current Realm and physique, this sword truly isn't something I can wield lightly."

"Exchanging injuries of five or six months for the life of a Tao Family Great Cultivator… well worth it!"

Su Mu had no trace of regret. For now he looked miserable, yet in fact his foundation had not been damaged; the injuries were entirely healable. To slaughter Tao Shengjiang, this Profound Realm figure, at such a cost was truly a bargain beyond expectation!

"After this sword, the other forces in Donglai County will mostly quiet down… but the Tao Family won't let this go. I need to restore my injuries as fast as possible."

Within Introspection, Su Mu carefully sensed the speed of his self‑healing. The feeling of oil running dry and the lamp burning out, of Qi Blood and Gang Force almost ceasing to circulate, was extremely unpleasant.

It was as if the power within his body had been sealed by someone, weakness and exhaustion pushed to the extreme.

"Still, after this battle, the Blood Seal has finally been completely worn away… and the bottleneck of Jiao Tendon Jade Bone has become ever clearer."

In life and death there is great fortune!

Su Mu nodded silently, then a flash of Spiritual Light flickered in his hand as he took out several small porcelain bottles, all medicines he'd previously Refined. However, these Pills did not reach Entry Level; for ordinary people and Lower Three Grades Cultivators, their effects were not bad.

But now, after Su Mu took them, he clearly felt the healing effect was quite limited. He then tried swallowing a Three-Turn Qi and Blood Pill obtained from Liu E of the Jiao Blood Gang.

"Hiss—!"

As the Elixir entered his body and its Medicinal Power dispersed, his meridians instantly felt as if they were being sliced back and forth by fire knives, painfully raw. Beads of cold sweat broke out all over at once. Su Mu immediately used Gang Force to seal the Medicinal Power within his body, changing to slowly digesting it.

Time flowed away in that silence.

In the blink of an eye, three days passed.

In the dense forest, Su Mu slowly opened his eyes, brows tightly knit.

Originally it took only one and a half days to completely digest one Three-Turn Qi and Blood Pill; now three days had gone by and he still hadn't digested one‑fifth of the Medicinal Power.

"No… at this rate it's far too slow, and that just now was already the fifth round of searching."

Su Mu stood up. If he wanted to speed up his recovery, he needed the assistance of Entry Level healing Elixirs. Yet the Entry Level Elixirs he had on hand were not suitable.

He needed to Refine them himself, or go buy a batch; he leaned more toward Refine on his own, because after looting Qinglin Pavilion he just happened to have a large stock of herbs.

And right now, buying ready‑made healing Elixirs would likely be traced by the Tao Family.

Besides, the Tao Family had already begun a carpet‑style search. In just three short days, Su Mu had detected five groups of searchers; continuing to hide would delay his recovery and was also vexing.

He now needed to make a decision, and two ideas surfaced in his mind.

Either leave Donglai County quickly and head straight for Qingzhou.

Or…

Trust that the most dangerous place is the safest, and turn back directly to Donglai County.

"Li Lu is still in the Commandery City… the Li Family also still owes me two treasures and a promise. This Tao Family Great Cultivator can't have died for nothing." Su Mu's eyes flickered as he looked toward the Commandery City.

"At the same time, the Cyan Fish Gang has the follow‑up Martial Dao Cultivation Technique I need. This level of risk is acceptable."

Thoughts spun swiftly, and Su Mu soon made his decision: he would return to Donglai County City to restore his injuries and take the payment owed for his strike.

...

At the east gate of the Commandery City, the inspection for entering the city was several times stricter than on ordinary days.

On the notice boards, fresh Wanted Orders had been posted one after another, the two faces painted on them vivid and lifelike, named Wang Chan.

At the city gate, several Daoist Cultivators with Spiritual Qi fluctuations around them were constantly releasing their Spiritual Power to probe those entering the city.

"These past few days the Tao Family has been like mad, plastering Wanted Orders all over Man City. I've no idea what this Wang Chan actually did."

"Not just the Commandery City. I'm from Pingshan County—two days ago the county seat was already covered in Wanted Orders. I heard more than a dozen surrounding counties are the same."

"They say Wang Chan was the champion of this grand competition, but her origin is unclear, and she's cruel by nature and bloodthirsty. Someone died during the competition, and I think the ones who died were Tao Family people… If we can find Wang Chan, we'll be set for life. Just providing information gets you three thousand taels of silver…"

"Stop dreaming. Since she's the champion and dared to kill Tao Family people, she must be a vicious, ruthless sort, maybe one of those river bandits from the Donglai River. How could the likes of us afford to provoke someone like that? Be careful you don't lose your life…"

"Damn river bandits, those beasts in human skin all deserve to die!"

Outside the city, the people lined up in queue whispered among themselves, many complaining, blaming Wang Chan for delaying their entry. Now entering the city took more than twice the time it used to.

River bandits, vicious, ruthless…

In the crowd, Su Mu listened quietly, expression unruffled. Manipulating public opinion was no rare trick; it had always been the favored method of Noble Families and major powers.

"Swish—!"

The leading few soldiers unfolded the Wanted portrait, carefully comparing it to Su Mu up and down, while a Daoist Cultivator simultaneously swept Su Mu with a release of Spiritual Power.

"Where are you from?"

"This lowly one is from Zhouhe Village of Pingshan County."

"Why are you entering the city?"

"Sir, I've got a bit of strength in me and plan to enter the city to find some work to make a living."

As he spoke, Su Mu quietly fished out a piece of broken silver and handed it over. After the soldier accepted the broken silver and checked once more, he glanced at the Daoist Cultivator. The Daoist lightly nodded, and the soldier waved his hand to let Su Mu pass.

He entered the Commandery City without incident.

The turmoil in the city seemed not to have disturbed the peace of Huai'an Square; the courtyard at the end of the alley showed no signs of having been forcibly entered.

Su Mu didn't linger. He quickly collected the Alchemy Tools in the Alchemy Room, then gathered the brewing equipment and liquor in the adjoining room, and left directly, planning to adopt a new identity from here on.

The Li Family and the Cyan Fish Gang were most likely under the Tao Family's watch at the moment; before his injuries were healed, Su Mu did not intend to go to them. He turned and headed for the main street.

A burst of commotion reached his ears from somewhere ahead.

Su Mu looked over.

Outside Qiancao Hall, heads were packed in a crowd. On the notice board outside the hall, a proclamation recruiting Alchemists had been posted. Su Mu's heart moved, and he strode toward it.