Extreme Spirit Chaos Technique

Zhou Zihan followed Mu Chen’s gaze and saw that the person Mu Chen was looking at was his own cousin, Zhou Ziheng. The corner of his eye twitched. He glanced at the pair of white boots, then at the Storage Ring on Zhou Ziheng’s finger, but his feet felt rooted to the spot, as if turned to stone.

’Never mind the value of the boots; he wasn’t willing to hand over that ring alone, let alone both. Why? Because that ring very likely contained something his aunt had sent for his father. If he had Communication Fireworks on him right now, this whole situation could be resolved. But, of course, he’d found them too troublesome to carry and had only let his eight guards bring them. The guards did indeed have Signal Fireworks on them now, but he was certain the man before him would never give him the chance to take them out.’

"That’s it!"

A glimmer lit up Zhou Zihan’s eyes, but before his thought could translate into action, Mu Chen nonchalantly interrupted his next move.

"I’ve completely sealed off a hundred-meter radius with my Spiritual Power. If you want to test how loud you can scream, go ahead. I promise I won’t stop you."

Seeing the playful and unconcerned look on Mu Chen’s face, Zhou Zihan ultimately didn’t shout. He knew Mu Chen had no reason to bluff. ’If he wanted to,’ he thought, ’I’d probably be lying on the ground the very next second.’

There was no greater suffering than being bullied right at your own doorstep, unable even to call for help. Resigned, and for the sake of self-preservation, Zhou Zihan walked over to Zhou Ziheng with a pained and utterly unwilling expression. As he removed his cousin’s boots and Storage Ring, he secretly made up his mind. ’The moment Mu Chen lets me go, I’ll charge straight back to the family and tell Grandpa. I have to make Mu Chen return what he stole. Not only that, I’ll make sure that bastard is torn limb from limb!’

"It’s all here."

A flash of venomous hatred crossed his eyes as Zhou Zihan handed the two items to Mu Chen, his gaze refusing to leave them.

"Well done."

With a slight smile, Mu Chen took the two items from Zhou Zihan’s hand and tucked them away into his own Storage Ring. Seeing the Profound Celestial Silk Boots and the Storage Ring disappear from Mu Chen’s grasp, Zhou Zihan’s heart sank with a wave of loss.

"You can let me go now, right?" Zhou Zihan said, gritting his teeth.

Mu Chen nodded. "Sure. But take these people with you before you go. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee they’ll still be alive when you leave. Also, just now, I extended my Spirit Barrier to the South City Gate. If you want to call for help, it might take you a while to get out of its range."

Leaving him with those words, Mu Chen turned and took Chu Aoqing’s hand. "Qing’Er, let’s go."

Chu Aoqing nodded with a smile. With a swipe of her finger through the air, a Spatial Rift appeared out of nowhere, and in a flash, they vanished. All that remained was a dumbstruck Zhou Zihan, staring blankly at the gradually closing rift, his eyes filled with thick fear and extreme resentment.

Primordial Power erupted from Zhou Zihan as he lifted Zhou Ziheng and the other eight men, rocketing toward the South Gate of Border City. He didn’t doubt Mu Chen’s words. The moment Mu Chen had vanished, he had already released his own Spiritual Power, and as expected, it had been forcefully repelled by an exceptionally strong Spiritual Power upon reaching the South City Gate.

’So that woman was a Martial Venerable, and that man in white was just acting weak to lure me in! And I stupidly walked right into their trap!’

"Damn it! Just you wait!!"

With a roar, Zhou Zihan crossed the South Gate in the blink of an eye. He didn’t shout for help, however. Still carrying the nine men, he flew toward one of the two most magnificent buildings in Border City. Outside its gates hung a huge, gilt-inscribed plaque bearing two large, golden words: Zhou Mansion!

"Grandpa! Grandpa!"

Before he even arrived, Zhou Zihan was already shouting, his face ashen. At that very moment, the Zhou Family Patriarch, Zhou Wangchen, was in the main hall leisurely sipping tea brewed with high-grade Ice Lotus. After all, the Zhou Family had once again collected commercial fees from countless merchants on the continent this year. Although it was just a Border City and their influence wasn’t vast, the profits were substantial. Over the years, their family’s status had been steadily rising, which was why his face was ruddy and beaming. But just as a sip of tea was about to touch his lips, a familiar voice reached his ears.

’That boy, Zihan, is getting more and more unruly,’ he grumbled. ’Shouting like that within the family grounds. What a disgrace.’

Zhou Wangchen slammed down his teacup, vanished in a single step, and reappeared in front of Zhou Zihan the next moment. But before he could question his grandson, he saw the nine unconscious figures floating behind him. Eight of them were clearly his Zhou Family guards, and while the last person didn’t seem familiar at first glance, a second look caused his pupils to shrink. He said in a low voice, "Zihan, not another word. Follow me."

As he spoke, Zhou Wangchen stamped his foot, and a huge spatial tunnel instantly appeared. With a wave of his arm, he swept Zhou Zihan and the nine unconscious figures into the Spatial Rift. When they reappeared, they were already in the Zhou Family’s secret chambers.

"Grandpa!"

Zhou Zihan had just cried out and was about to speak when Zhou Wangchen said in a grave voice, "Hold on."

After speaking, Zhou Wangchen didn’t even glance at the eight guards lying on the floor. He walked directly to Zhou Ziheng’s side. With a grasp at the empty air, he levitated Zhou Ziheng, then formed a sword with two fingers and tapped several points on his body, sending a gentle stream of Primordial Power into him.

Only after doing this did Zhou Wangchen take a deep breath. He slowly sat down in a chair and fixed a sharp gaze on Zhou Zihan, asking in a low voice, "What exactly happened? Why was Ziheng with you, and how did he end up so severely injured?"

At the mention of this, Zhou Zihan’s expression instantly turned savage. He recounted the events with such vivid detail that Zhou Wangchen felt as if he were experiencing them firsthand.

"I just wanted him to apologize to my cousin Ziheng, but not only did he refuse, he even insulted our Zhou Family! I couldn’t stand it, so I took the guards out of the city to reason with him, and this is what happened. Not only was Cousin Ziheng severely injured, but he even stole my cousin’s Profound Celestial Silk Boots and the things Aunt told him to bring to us! Grandpa, you have to get justice for us!"

Zhou Wangchen’s face turned ashen as he listened. His strong, aged hand crushed the armrest of his chair. He gritted his teeth and said, "Good! Excellent! To think that my great Border City Zhou Family would be bullied at our own doorstep by two nameless juniors! I’d like to see just who gave these two the audacity!"

"But they already used a Space Transfer to escape. Can we even catch them now?" Zhou Zihan sighed. ’If Grandpa hadn’t stopped me in the air and had let me explain everything right then and there, we might have had a chance to catch them. But now, they’ve probably fled thousands of miles away.’

"Can’t catch them?" Zhou Wangchen snorted coldly, a frigid glint flashing in his eyes. "If that brat hadn’t taken Ziheng’s Storage Ring, we might have had to swallow this loss. But since he was courting death, he can’t blame me for what comes next!"

With that, Zhou Wangchen stood up grimly. With a flip of his hand, he produced an unusually archaic-looking compass. The compass had no decorations or markings whatsoever, save for a single needle.

"Grandpa, what’s that?" Zhou Zihan was stunned. As far as he could remember, he had never seen his grandfather take out such a thing.

"A Spirit Compass." Zhou Wangchen gave a slight smile and pressed the center of the compass to Zhou Ziheng’s forehead. SWISH! A white light shot into the center of the compass. Then, the lone needle on the compass began to spin rapidly before stopping a moment later, pointing to the southwest of Border City.

"Found them."

Leaving those words behind, Zhou Wangchen’s figure vanished from the secret chamber with a SWISH.

...

On a mountain path ten thousand kilometers from Border City, a Spatial Rift appeared out of thin air. A man and a woman emerged side by side.

Taking a deep breath of the fresh mountain air, Mu Chen said, "Finally, we don’t have to travel through the void anymore."

Chu Aoqing shot Mu Chen a playful, reproachful look. "I’m the one casting the Spatial Transmission, and you’re the one complaining?"

Mu Chen gave an embarrassed laugh. "I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare."

Chu Aoqing laughed. "You... not only did you beat up their people, you even stole their things. What I really don’t get is that you even stole the man’s shoes. Is there anything you wouldn’t dare to do?"

"But," Chu Aoqing said, puzzled, "this Profound Celestial Silk is precious, but from what I know, once an item of clothing is woven from it, its shape is fixed forever. Our feet clearly won’t fit. What do you want them for?"

Mu Chen shook his head helplessly. "Who knows? I just saw him and was annoyed, so I took them."

"What kind of weird hobby is that?" Chu Aoqing rolled her eyes.

Mu Chen broke into a sweat and quickly changed the subject. "There’s a city up ahead, and it’s getting dark. Why don’t we rest there for the night?"

Chu Aoqing peered into the distance and did indeed spot a town. She nodded. "Alright. But aren’t you worried that the Zhou Family’s Saint Realm Powerhouse will come looking for revenge?"

Mu Chen shrugged nonchalantly. "What’s there to worry about? Even setting aside whether he can find us, if he really does show up, don’t I still have you? I can just cling to my powerful backer."

Chu Aoqing burst out laughing. "You? Cling to a backer? Fine. Weren’t you always so reserved and quiet before? How did you become such a smooth-talker?"

Mu Chen laughed heartily. "Well, people change."

As he said this, the image of another person surfaced in Mu Chen’s mind. It was none other than Feng Chaoming, the man who had fought with him for a year. He remembered how every time he was defeated by Feng Chaoming, that old geezer would use all sorts of methods to mock and belittle him. Over time, it was inevitable that he’d be influenced.

"Forget it, let’s go." Chu Aoqing didn’t press the issue. As Mu Chen had said, she was there for him. ’If that so-called Border City Zhou Family really dares to do anything to Mu Chen,’ she thought, ’I wouldn’t mind making this Border City disappear completely from the Central State Plate.’

...