Chapter 137: Shock

"The son-in-law is here."

As Chen Mu arrived at Xu Hongyu’s courtyard, a maid spotted him and quickly bowed, some going inside to report while others bowed to Chen Mu, saying, "Son-in-law, Miss is not here right now."

"It’s alright."

Chen Mu replied calmly.

If Xu Hongyu wasn’t in the courtyard, she was definitely deep within the Yu family’s territory, comprehending the Kan Water Map. And since a maid had gone to report, Xiao He should be present.

Indeed, a figure dressed as a maid in green quickly emerged, it was indeed Xiao He. Chen Mu rarely saw Xiao He properly wearing the clothes of a regular maid, mostly she wore unremarkable gray robes, or clothes that were slightly less impressive than Xu Hongyu’s.

As soon as Xiao He saw Chen Mu, she led him to a quiet place and whispered, "I heard there was some trouble in your courtyard last night?"

Although Chen Mu suppressed the commotion in his courtyard last night, the numerous servants and the patrols outside, with many people around, naturally led to discussions during the day. Xiao He, being a know-it-all in the Yu family, quickly learned of it. However, since Chen Mu didn’t take any action, there must be Chen Mu’s reasons, so she didn’t actively seek him out, until Chen Mu came today, she guessed he might be about to talk about it, and quietly inquired in a quiet place.

"It’s nothing much."

Chen Mu shook his head, but still told Xiao He about the Blood Shadow Tower. On one hand, Xiao He was not an outsider to him, like Chen Yue, and on the other hand, Xiao He’s understanding of the Blood Shadow Tower and the He family might be even more than his.

Xiao He was surprised to hear it, but quickly suppressed it.

"Then it seems Miss was right to keep your affairs under wraps, without even telling the family head," she said.

When Chen Mu revealed his strength, there was no news that the four major sects would be entering Yu Prefecture, at that time, in Xiao He’s view, whether it was to hide the news, or only tell the higher-ups of the Yu family, it should be suitable for Chen Mu. But with the development of the situation afterwards, seeing the situation today, it could only be said that Xu Hongyu had chosen the safest way for Chen Mu.

Chen Mu was calm at this moment, and said, "You should understand the Blood Shadow Tower a bit more than I do, what price do you think the Blood Shadow Tower would put on my publicly known strength?"

Xiao He looked Chen Mu over, seeing that Chen Mu was calm and relaxed, and not at all tense like he had been targeted by the Blood Shadow Tower after experiencing an assassination last night, a pair of beautiful eyes couldn’t help but show some ripples.

Just this bearing alone, there was absolutely no one in the younger generation of Yu City who could compare.

"Around seven hundred thousand taels?"

Xiao He thought about it and said, "The Blood Shadow Tower emphasizes bloodless kills, assassinations without a sound. Your strength is part of it, but the key is also your identity as a White Uniform Guard of the Demon Slaying Division, you’re engaged to Miss, and recently, you’ve been staying at the Yu family’s residence all the time."

Chen Mu rubbed his chin.

Xiao He’s estimate was more than his. He estimated around five or six hundred thousand taels, and actually he was a little tempted by this silver, after all, the current Bone Forging cultivation was like burning money. If it wasn’t for the many silvers he had saved before, he might have had to borrow money from Xu Hongyu, which would be a little too embarrassing. It was a pity that he couldn’t really get his hands on the silver, in short, if there was not enough silver, he would go ‘borrow’ some from the He family later.

"Then how much do you think the He family would have to offer for the Blood Shadow Tower to strike again, given my strength last night?"

Chen Mu thought for a while and asked.

Xiao He was still looking at Chen Mu with eyes that were shining with an unusual light.

In less than three months, he had formally entered Bone Forging. Although she knew it wouldn’t be difficult for Chen Mu to enter Bone Forging, such speed still made her heart yearn, especially since Chen Mu had also mastered two artistic conceptions.

"Considering your strength and all your background, it will probably be over ten million taels, maybe even more," Xiao He thought for a while and said softly.

The key was that Chen Mu was not alone, he was a White Uniform Guard of the Demon Slaying Division and belonged to an external force of the Seven Profound Sect. The stronger the strength and talent displayed, the greater the price to kill Chen Mu would increase exponentially.

In terms of Chen Mu’s strength alone, if they wanted Chen Mu to die silently, they would probably need a figure from the Viscera Realm to make a move, which in itself was a completely different price, perhaps over a million taels.

In addition, Chen Mu was also the son-in-law of the Yu family, highly regarded, and after experiencing the first assassination, in the view of the Blood Shadow Tower, he was likely to move into the deeper part of the Yu family’s residence, and stay with the Viscera Realm ancestor of the Yu family.

In that way, the difficulty of a silent assassination would greatly increase!

Coupled with the possibility of the Seven Profound Sect interfering, for the Blood Shadow Tower to assassinate Chen Mu, ten million taels was probably just the starting price.

"Well, as I expected, the He family probably can’t afford this price." Chen Mu said lightly.

The four major families in Yu Prefecture certainly had more than ten million taels of wealth, but the problem was that in the current chaotic world, silver was as useless as scrap metal if kept in hand. Only when used to cultivate talents or fighters would it have a real effect.

The He family was unlikely to have much silver in their coffers, after all, if anything happened, the silver was useless, but if they could cultivate a group of elite swordsmen of Tendon Transformation realm, that would be a very useful force.

"They probably won’t. I heard Miss say that the Yu family’s daily flowing silver is only a few million taels at most… but you’d better go to the ‘Ancient Courtyard’ to cultivate for a while," Xiao He thought for a while and said.

The Ancient Courtyard was the deepest part of the Yu family’s residence, where the Yu family’s ancestor lived, and also where the Yu family’s treasury and fundamental things like the Kan Water Map were located.

In Xiao He’s view, it was basically impossible for the He family to go bankrupt to hire assassins from the Blood Shadow Tower. The reason was simple, even if the He family could really come up with so much silver, the mobilization of such a large amount of silver was impossible to hide from the Yu family’s eyes, which would not be an assassination at all, it would be an extremely foolish act.

Once they made such a move, Chen Mu could go directly to the Supervisory Division!

As a White Uniform Guard of the Demon Slaying Division, Chen Mu was under the forces of the Seven Profound Sect. If he displayed enough talent and strength, let alone the possibility of the Seven Profound Sect exceptionally enrolling Chen Mu into the inner sect, at least the Inspector would not let anything happen to Chen Mu.

At that time, the He family would be on all sides. They would anger the Inspector, deplete their own resources, fail to kill Chen Mu, and even face all kinds of retaliation from the Yu family afterwards. Even if they did not collapse immediately, they would be completely devastated.

Compared with hiring the Blood Shadow Tower, Xiao He thought that it was more likely that the He family would give up, and ask their Viscera Realm ancestor to find an opportunity to attack Chen Mu. Therefore, she thought that Chen Mu should simply move to the Ancient Courtyard and cultivate with Xu Hongyu.

"The Ancient Courtyard, huh." Chen Mu looked at Xiao He and nodded slightly, saying, "Well, I’ve actually reached a bottleneck in my comprehension of the Thunder Artistic Conception recently, and I also want to see other maps."

Xiao He looked at Chen Mu and blinked, offering consolation, "The second step of Artistic Conception is very difficult, and you only have a rubbing map, it is natural to encounter a bottleneck. With your talent, it is more appropriate to switch to comprehending other Artistic Conceptions. If you can master four or five Artistic Conceptions concurrently, it may not be too much worse than the second step of any Artistic Conception."

"If I can cultivate four or five artistic conceptions among the Eight Phases, then in terms of power, it may indeed be comparable to the second step of any artistic conception, but it is still inferior in other aspects," Chen Mu said.

Artistic Conception was not like cabbage, each Artistic Conception of the Eight Phases was actually not bad. For example, compared with the "Five Elements Artistic Conception" which had sub-branches such as metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, they could rival it, or even be slightly better. It was just that the ‘Heart Sword’ and ‘Blood Evil’ that he encountered recently were just a higher tier.

If wind, thunder, water, and fire could gather four or five types, in terms of pure power, they could indeed be comparable to the ordinary second step artistic conception, but that was only in terms of pure power… After all, simultaneously controlling four or five artistic conceptions to erupt would cause terrifying damage to oneself, and he would collapse after a few blows, while the second step of artistic conception directly used a portion of the power of heaven and earth, which was nearly endless.

….

In the center of the Yu family’s residence.

"He finally wants to go to the Ancient Courtyard to comprehend the Artistic Conception Map?"

Yu Zuyi, standing in the courtyard, smiled after hearing Xiao He’s report.

How difficult it was to comprehend the second step of Artistic Conception, especially before entering the Viscera Realm. Although there were such people in Yu Prefecture, they were all in their twilight years, after combining their life experiences, they finally achieved some comprehension, but their qi and blood were already depleted, their tendons and bones decayed, even if they achieved the second step of Artistic Conception, they were already in their old age, and had little action.

In his view, with Chen Mu’s aptitude, if he comprehended other Artistic Conception maps earlier, and mastered two or even three different artistic conceptions, then in Bone Forging realm he would be almost invincible. If he entered the Viscera Realm in the future, he would be by no means weak.

But it was good that young people had ambition.

Therefore, he did not force Chen Mu to go to the Ancient Courtyard to comprehend other artistic conceptions before.

Now that Chen Mu had encountered difficulties and changed his mind, wanting to go to comprehend other maps of the Yu family, he thought it was also a good thing. It showed that the young man knew to advance and retreat. He was quite satisfied with this grandson-in-law.

"Also, there is one more thing to report…"

Xiao He looked around at some maids and attendants.

Yu Zuyi waved his hand with a calm expression, and all the attendants retreated. Only Xiao He was left in the courtyard.

Xiao He organized her words and briefly stated what happened last night. It was not appropriate to publicize the matter of the Blood Shadow Tower assassination, but it still had to be told to Yu Zuyi, which was also Chen Mu’s intention. After all, the He family probably already knew about it, and it was no longer necessary to hide it from the higher-ups of the Yu family. And afterwards, all the Yu family’s informants needed to keep a close watch on the He family.

Yu Zuyi didn’t know what Xiao He wanted to report, he just listened quietly. But as soon as he heard about the Blood Shadow Tower assassination, his face immediately changed. And when he heard Xiao He say that Chen Mu had repelled the Blood Shadow Tower assassin, he was even more shocked.

The Blood Shadow Tower.

One of the four major sects that had entered Yu Prefecture from outside.

He, the head of the Yu family, was naturally very familiar with it. A long time ago, various information about the Blood Shadow Tower had been compiled and sent to him like snowflakes.

The assassinations of the Blood Shadow Tower rarely failed, one in a hundred at most, Chen Mu had survived an assassination last night… no, even according to Xiao He, he had repelled the Blood Shadow Tower assassin, which shocked him greatly.

He even doubted the truth of what Xiao He said.

Perhaps it wasn’t a Blood Shadow Tower assassin, but Chen Mu had mistaken them.

Yu Zuyi frowned and said, "With his strength, the assassin from the Blood Shadow Tower must at least be at Bone Forging realm or higher, someone who had mastered Artistic Conception. How did he repel them?"

Xiao He heard the doubt in Yu Zuyi’s words, bowed to Yu Zuyi, and said, "Actually, the son-in-law had long ago reached the Perfection of Tendon Transformation, and also mastered two artistic conceptions, Xun Wind and Thunder. It’s just that Miss was worried that what happened to the Old Master might happen again, so she hid it. The He family also doesn’t know it. This time, the son-in-law has broken through the Bone Forging Realm, his strength far beyond the Blood Shadow Tower’s expectations, thus repelling the assassin."

Yu Zuyi was stunned.

Bone Forging Realm, mastering wind and thunder Artistic Conception?

Xiao He’s words gave him a feeling of fantasy, to the point where he couldn’t believe it for a moment, but soon he suddenly thought that someone had once attacked the Yu family’s residence, trying to steal a bloodline of the Yu family, but was intercepted halfway with a thunder artistic conception, killing the intruder and preventing the follow-up of the matter from happening.

At that time, it was unknown who had made the move, and he had even suspected it was someone from the Xue or Xie family.

Yu Zuyi was silent for a while, then slowly said:

"Then, Pockmarked Tian Jifeng, he should have died at his hand back then?"

"Yes."

Xiao He bowed her head and said, "Actually, Miss did not know at that time either. Although she deliberately hid it later, there were reasons. I hope the family head will forgive her…"

The courtyard fell into a brief silence.

Yu Zuyi looked up at the sky.

If he thought about it now, even He Mingxuan of the He family died under the power of the Thunder Artistic Conception, and the murderer had never been found, while at that time Chen Mu was working under Xu Hongyu. In this way, one thing after another, one event after another, was finally linked together. The few problems that had troubled him for a long time, it turned out, were from here, and at that time he always felt like an invisible hand was manipulating things.

He never thought that this invisible hand would ultimately be from his own side.

After a long while.

Yu Zuyi finally sighed and said, "What crimes do you have? It’s just that I underestimated him. His talent is far above Yichuan’s. If he enters the Seven Profound Sect, he may even have hope of becoming a Direct Lineage Disciple."

After another while, Yu Zuyi waved his hand at Xiao He, signaling that she could leave. Xiao He bowed respectfully, then turned and left the courtyard, leaving only Yu Zuyi alone in the courtyard.

Bone Forging…

Wind and Thunder…

Yu Zuyi looked up at the sky, even at this moment, the waves in his heart still could not calm down for a long time.

This grandson-in-law of his, what a… unexpectedly big surprise he had given him.

However.

If the He family could get accurate news from the Blood Shadow Tower, they would probably be completely restless. With Chen Mu’s talent, if he could enter the Viscera Realm in the future, the situation of the He and Yu families would be completely reversed.

After all, that Viscera Realm of the He family was actually also very old, just not yet in his twilight years, a bit better than the Yu family, but compared with Chen Mu, there was too much difference, and the He family had suffered continuous losses in the past two years, even He Mingzhen, this talented junior, was missing … Well, it seemed that it might be Chen Mu’s doing as well.

The He and Yu families had been fighting for many years, and the gap had been silently leveled by Chen Mu alone.

Now, thinking carefully, Yu Zuyi still felt like a dream, after all, Chen Mu’s origins were now known to everyone. He was truly born at the bottom, and was initially just an unremarkable yamen runner. It was Xu Hongyu who had personally promoted him from the South District.

And now, without realizing it, he had already reached such a height.

"Hongyu…"

"You were born in the Yu family, indeed you are the lucky charm of our Yu family, a blessing for the Yu family…" Yu Zuyi murmured.

I’ve read a lot of comments, and I can only say that everyone has their own preferences. There is no way for a book to be all compact storylines such as battles. Besides, the current updates are over ten thousand words per day, writing for seven or eight hours, it is even more impossible to make the quality very polished and finely detailed, I can only try my best to make the story not too monotonous and boring. I hope you readers will understand.