Five days later, on the north side of Low Mountain, there was a small hollow.

    Rocks in disarray and spiny shrubs dominated the hollow.

    On a gigantic stone platform, Chen Mu sat cross-legged.

    He opened his right hand, pushing it upward.

    Along with the deep and lengthy Curse Command, a black Soul Strength swirled upwards from his right palm, forming a sphere.

    Chen Mu felt as if a vacuum cleaner had been stuffed into his head.

    A tremendous suction force continued to pull something outwards.

    He stared at the pitch-black sphere hovering above his palm with an odd expression on his face, "Sand Containing Technique? This sphere doesn''t look at all like sand?"

    Whoo!

    The sphere, as if propelled by an exploding cannonball, suddenly broke free from his hand, trailing a deep whoosh as it tore through the air.

    Boom!

    A dull thud resonated, and dirt and stones flew into the air, creating a large pit about three to four meters in diameter in the hollow.

    Chen Mu looked it over, then continued to close his eyes and recite the Curse Words.

    Whoo, whoo, whoo...

    Boom, boom, boom...

    More pits appeared as small creatures of the hollow were startled into scurrying everywhere.

    It took quite some time before Chen Mu finally stopped, surveying the scarred hollow and silently summing up his calculations.

    "The attack range is about sixty steps."

    "Power..." Chen Mu nodded while looking at the unrecognizable hollow, "Not bad."

    "Maximum number of consecutive uses... twenty-one."

    With a thought, Chen Mu summoned the gray wall.

    Sand Containing Technique: 339/10000/First Rank;

    "With future rank advancements, the power and number of uses will likely increase," Chen Mu thought to himself, "Perhaps it can replace Iron Lotus Seeds as the primary means of mid-range attack."

    "It''s just this activation time..." Chen Mu''s face didn''t look too good.

    From incantation to activation, nearly an hour of preparation time was needed.

    In that time, Five Ghosts Moving Mountain would have already swallowed the enemy whole!

    "And this is the secret technique with the shortest activation time," Chen Mu couldn''t help shaking his head.

    Just as Instructor Zhuang Fu had said: Secret Techniques are varied and strange, but not suitable for extensive practice.

    Long activation time, long cultivation time, practicing too much, spending money and time—this will definitely affect the Spirit and Soul Unification cultivation.

    "First, I will focus on practicing the Sand Containing Technique. Let''s see if I can shorten the time for Spirit and Soul Unification."

    "Other Secret Techniques will wait until after the jade seed synthesis for cultivation," Chen Mu decided.

    ...

    Three days later.

    In the Low Hill Courtyard, under a wooden shed, by the water well.

    Chen Mu finished a training session of the True Sun Scripture.

    The muscular man''s eyebrow raised but he didn''t resist, letting Chen Mu pull him under the wooden canopy.

    With a flip of his hand, the White Jade Coins disappeared.

    He took the cool tea handed over by Chen Mu and nodded slightly to the others, "Go on, search carefully."

    A solemn expression softened on the faces of his subordinates.

    After bursting into Chen Mu''s room, although they searched around, they were careful to handle everything gently.

    The two White Jade Coins had their effect.

    The courtyard was not large, and the main house only had three rooms which were quickly inspected.

    "Patrolling Inspector, there''s nothing suspicious," a square-faced man in black reported with clasped fists. Explore more adventures at empire

    The muscular man nodded, then turned to look at Chen Mu, "Do you know Dong Cheng?"

    Chen Mu shook his head blankly.

    "Then, have you met any peddlers engaging in buy-low, sell-high?" the well-dressed man continued to press Chen Mu.

    Chen Mu hesitated for a moment and said, "I know one."

    "Who?"

    "I don''t know his name, but he''s a small-eyed, chubby fellow who seems to go by the surname Shang," Chen Mu tried to recall.

    The square-faced man nodded to the black-clothed Patrolling Inspector.

    After scrutinizing Chen Mu from head to toe, the black-clothed Patrolling Inspector calmly warned, "No matter what status you held on the Border Wilderness Island, here, you are just a disciple of the Lower Courtyard on Jilong Road.

    "Keep tending to the fields earnestly and stay out of trouble, or else the Lower Courtyard patrolling officers will not let you off."

    "Yes, yes, yes..." Chen Mu quickly agreed with clasped hands.

    The black-clothed Patrolling Inspector nodded, satisfied, and departed swiftly with his subordinates.

    Chen Mu stood at the doorway, smilingly seeing them off, watching the departing figures, deep in thought.

    "The disturbance with Dong Cheng seems to be far from over."

    ...

    Evening, under the wooden canopy at the square table.

    Chen Mu had finished preparing dinner, with two meat dishes, two vegetarian dishes, and a large bowl of Silver Pearl Rice mixed with Yellow Bud Rice.

    "You newcomers are really unlucky," Old Hao said with a chuckle while eating.

    "Dong Cheng was about to go to the Lower Courtyard to take on a master. Then he suddenly disappeared. If you ask me, the guy is probably gone for good," Old Hao gesticulated with his chopsticks into the air.

    "He always cheated the newcomers before, and there were even rumors that he caused someone''s death."

    "So the patrollers suspect that the person who killed him is among you newcomers," Old Hao gave Chen Mu a look that clearly enjoyed the drama.

    "You came from the Border Wilderness, and the hardest hit by Dong Cheng''s schemes were people like you."

    "Being questioned closely is only to be expected."

    Chen Mu''s face showed anger, "All I want is to tend to the fields peacefully."

    "How could I get involved in such an incident."

    "When the city gates catch fire, the fish in the moat suffer," he said, facing Old Hao''s teasing demeanor and sighing helplessly.

    "Alas..."

    "An unwarranted disaster!"