Cultivating in Different Professions

"Are you sure you want to test the power of the Five Flames Heaven-Shaking Bow again?"

"Bring it on."

Dai Jin sneered, "I’ll have you know the Five Flames Heaven-Shaking Bow is useless against me!

Su Mu, prepare to be terrified.

Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance. Shoot me!"

He flipped his wrist, and a palm-sized bronze bell appeared in his hand.

The bronze bell was carved with intricate patterns and looked exquisite.

Jia Ren, Du Yuehua, and Shi Ji all had confident smiles on their faces.

With the Fireproof Shield, the Five Flames Heaven-Shaking Bow could never harm Senior Brother Dai.

"Since you insist, I won’t be polite."

Su Mu said.

Before the words had even left his mouth, he had already taken the Five Flames Heaven-Shaking Bow from his back and drawn it with the speed of a thunderclap.

TWANG!

With a sharp hum, a blood-red arrow wreathed in five-colored flames was instantly before Dai Jin.

"Fuck!"

Dai Jin cursed inwardly.

’That treacherous little thief, attacking without any warning! How rude!’

’Fortunately, I was prepared!’

A disdainful smile on his face, Dai Jin instantly poured his True Essence into the bronze bell.

He could already picture the Fireproof Shield blocking the arrow from the Five Flames Heaven-Shaking Bow, and the shocked and terrified expression on Su Mu’s face.

The next moment, the smile on his face froze solid.

Then, boundless terror flooded his eyes.

"No!"

Dai Jin let out a heaven-shaking scream.

PFFT!

The blood-red arrow sank into Dai Jin’s chest, and the five-colored flames instantly engulfed his body.

In just a few breaths, Dai Jin had been reduced to a puff of black ash, which was then scattered by the mountain wind, disappearing completely into the forest.

The entire scene fell silent.

Jia Ren, Du Yuehua, and Shi Ji were all frozen in place, the smiles not even having had time to fade from their faces.

They stared fixedly at the spot where Dai Jin had just been standing, still unable to believe what had just happened.

’How could this be?’

’Senior Brother Dai, why didn’t he use the Fireproof Shield?’

’With his True Essence Realm cultivation, there’s no way he couldn’t have reacted in time.’

’Besides, at the True Essence Realm, he should have been able to fully utilize the Fireproof Shield’s power. It makes no sense that it couldn’t block the Five Flames Heaven-Shaking Bow.’

"Run!"

Shi Ji was the first to react.

Without hesitation, he turned and fled.

This once-notorious criminal from the most-wanted list now only wished he’d been born with two more legs.

He used every ounce of his strength, and in a flash, had already fled several hundred zhang.

A True Essence Realm expert like Dai Jin couldn’t even block one arrow from the Five Flames Heaven-Shaking Bow; he didn’t have the slightest intention of trying his luck.

Regardless of why the Fireproof Shield had failed, he had only one thought now: run, as far away as possible.

TWANG!

Suddenly, there was another crisp twang.

The whistling sound of something cutting through the air behind him scared Shi Ji out of his wits.

"Sp—are me!"

Shi Ji was worthy of his background as a great thief. At the critical moment, he unleashed all his potential and pushed his Body Technique to its absolute limit, actually managing to dodge the arrow shot from behind.

But there was not a trace of joy in his heart.

Because in the corner of his eye, he saw another arrow had already appeared in his path of evasion, as if he were deliberately crashing into it.

’What kind of archery is this?’

’That son of a bitch Dai Jin, he never said this Su Mu’s archery was so brilliant.’

’Besides, how can someone in the Blood Transformation Realm draw and fire the Five Flames Heaven-Shaking Bow so easily?’

’Shouldn’t he be limited to only two or three shots at most?’

BOOM!

Shi Ji’s cry for help had just left his lips when it was cut short.

With a loud bang, Shi Ji was pinned to the cliff face, his body instantly swallowed by the five-colored flames.

After firing the two arrows, Su Mu didn’t even bother to look at Shi Ji again.

Because Shi Ji’s fate was already sealed.

He turned to Jia Ren and Du Yuehua and put away the Five Flames Heaven-Shaking Bow.

Two mere Blood Transformation Realm cultivators weren’t worthy of dying to the Five Flames Heaven-Shaking Bow.

The ground beneath his feet cracked, spiderweb-like fissures instantly spreading across the stone, and then Su Mu’s figure vanished.

As if a gale had swept through, a series of metallic clangs rang out in the air.

When Wang Guan poked his head out from behind the giant rock again, Jia Ren and Du Yuehua were already lying dead, dozens of zhang apart.

Even though they had fled in different directions, they hadn’t been able to escape.

"You can come out now."

Su Mu said lightly as he slowly sheathed his blade.

"Brother Mu!"

Wang Guan jumped out from behind the rock with an excited expression, running up to Su Mu like an eager lackey.

"Second Young Master, I owe you big time for this. Otherwise, I might have suffered a major loss."

Su Mu said, a smile also appearing on his face.

"Heh, Brother Mu, what’s with the formality? We’re brothers who’ve been through life and death together.

They wanted to harm you, so just watch me screw them over!"

Wang Guan laughed smugly. "Don’t even get me started on that idiot Dai Jin. I swapped out the Fireproof Shield several days ago, and he never even noticed.

And that Shi Ji, calls himself a great thief? Didn’t he get played by me all the same?"

"Second Young Master, you truly are exceptionally talented."

Su Mu was also full of admiration.

He had to admit, everyone has something they excel at.

Wang Guan was neither a scholar nor a warrior, but when it came to stealing, his talent was truly exceptional.

This was probably thanks to the battle of wits he had been fighting with his father, Wang Zang, since childhood.

Wang Zang was the Chief of the Inner City Household Department of Wuling City and an incredibly shrewd man. If Wang Guan didn’t have some real skill, it would have been truly difficult to steal anything from his father.

"Hehe, it was nothing."

Wang Guan said smugly, "They didn’t know what I was capable of, so they let their guard down around me.

I made a bronze bell myself and swapped it directly for the Fireproof Shield.

Also, Brother Mu, let me tell you, that Shi Ji was carrying something else around, never letting it out of his sight, like it was some kind of treasure.

My hands started itching, so I stole it from him too."

"Oh? You could steal something from Shi Ji?"

Su Mu said in surprise, "It’s a good thing you were born into wealth. Otherwise, with thieving skills like yours, you’d definitely be another notorious criminal on the most-wanted list."

"It’s just my hobby."

Wang Guan said with a smile, "Brother Mu, see if you have any use for this thing. It’s what I stole from Shi Ji. If you can’t use it, I’ll just toss it.

And this Fireproof Shield seems pretty valuable, too. How about we sell it?"

"No one would dare buy the Fireproof Shield."

Su Mu chuckled. "You keep the Fireproof Shield. We’ll cook up a story later. We’ll say that Dai Jin gave it to you."

"We encountered danger outside the city, and to preserve the Profound Weapon, Boss Dai had us take it and escape first."

Wang Guan continued Su Mu’s line of thought. "This counts as me preserving a Profound Weapon for the Inspection Bureau, right? If the Inspection Bureau doesn’t give me a promotion for this, how could they have the nerve?"

"Exactly."

Su Mu smiled and said, "The Fireproof Shield is too sensitive for either of us to keep. If bringing it back to the Inspection Bureau can get you a promotion, then it will have served its purpose."

The higher Wang Guan’s position in the Inspection Bureau, the more beneficial it would be for Su Mu.

If it weren’t for Wang Guan this time, and Dai Jin had actually had the real Fireproof Shield, he really wouldn’t have been his opponent.

’Trading a Fireproof Shield for a high-ranking mole in the Inspection Bureau is a good deal.’

"Brother Mu, this."

Wang Guan put away the Fireproof Shield and handed another item to Su Mu.

The object appeared to be a piece of bone, already worn to a smooth patina from being handled so much.

Su Mu took it casually, feeling the uneven surface of the bone in his hand.

Bringing it closer to his eyes for a careful look, Su Mu was stunned to discover that the bone’s surface was covered in countless tiny characters, carved with a micro-engraving technique.

He peered at it for a long while but found that even with his eyesight, he couldn’t make out the small characters.

It seemed he would need a magnifying glass or a similar tool to see what the words were.

"That thing looks like a rib bone. Who knows if Shi Ji took it from one of his lovers."

Wang Guan said, "I just happened to notice he placed a lot of importance on it, so I paid a hefty sum to bribe the young lady who was sleeping with him..."

Su Mu had a strange expression. ’Is this a case of an old veteran of the Jianghu capsizing in a ditch?’

"Second Young Master, this item might be very valuable."

Su Mu said thoughtfully, "Are you sure you want to give it to me?"

"I don’t care how valuable it is. All I know is that without you, Brother Mu, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Brother Mu, if you think of me as a brother, then you’ll accept it."

Wang Guan shook his head and said, "Brother Mu, if you keep being so polite with me, I’m really going to get angry!"