Da Xuan Martial Saint

Chen Mu was not aware of the situation with Yan Hong and Jiang Han.

After breaching a large settlement, Chen Mu, together with Fang Yuan, continued to rampage in search of Spirit Human settlements. Nearly half a month passed this way. Although they hadn't encountered another large settlement, they had scoured countless medium and small ones, and the amount of Xunmu Spirit Liquid collected had finally reached over two hundred jin!

In addition,

they also found many Earth Spirit Fruits and other special spiritual objects from the Xunmu Cave Heaven, resulting in an extremely bountiful harvest.

Along the way, they hadn't encountered Elders like Ling Huan and Ling Ji, nor did they run into other Grandmasters' teams attacking Xunmu Cave Heaven. It seemed that the other Grandmasters' teams were now converging in one place, not spread out in various parts of Xunmu Cave Heaven.

At a certain Spirit Human settlement.

Many Spirit Humans were fleeing in a disheveled fashion.

Hisss!

A streak of invisible Finger Force spread out, piercing through the head of a burly Spirit Human with a single strike.

A clear blood hole appeared in the middle of that Spirit Human's forehead, eyes showing a mixture of fear and unwillingness. He then thumped down into a pool of blood, a moderately sized wooden bottle tumbling out of his embrace.

Chen Mu's figure strolled from behind, extending his hand in a beckoning motion, the wooden bottle flying into his grasp. Without opening it, he weighed it slightly, more or less discerning the quantity of Wood Spirit Liquid inside, nodded faintly, and then tucked it away.

Fang Yuan followed from one side.

Watching Chen Mu collect the Xunmu Spirit Liquid, a hint of envy appeared in his eyes. In the half month he had followed Chen Mu, they had at least scavenged nearly a hundred jin of Xunmu Spirit Liquid. This extremely precious spiritual liquid seemed almost worthless in the hands of Chen Mu.

But in reality, only Chen Mu could so effortlessly harvest such a massive amount of the liquid.

If it were someone else, they wouldn't even qualify to act alone in Xunmu Cave Heaven; they would need to move in groups of at least twenty to thirty Grandmasters. Lacking Chen Mu's agility and freedom of movement, even without interference from the Spirit Human Elders, it would be difficult to gather a hundred jin of Xunmu Spirit Liquid in just half a month. And if they were to distribute it amongst themselves, it would often be hard to receive even two or three jin each.

Not to mention, should they face interference and attack from the Spirit Human Elders, they could possibly lose their lives. In such a situation requiring constant vigilance and caution, the expected yield would be even lower.

Chen Mu did not pursue the fleeing Spirit Humans.

After putting the Xunmu Spirit Liquid into his bag, he pondered for a short moment before taking out his Qiankun bottle. Holding it in his hand, he weighed it slightly. After calculating the accumulated Xunmu Spirit Liquid inside, it was about two hundred and thirteen jin.

While taking out the Qiankun bottle, Chen Mu did not particularly hide his actions from Fang Yuan. After all, his acquisition of a Void Jade Crystal during the expedition to Ice State Abyss was now common knowledge, and it was widely speculated that he had crafted a Void Treasure.

Fang Yuan had been a witness to Chen Mu's casual collection of resources. However, it was his first time seeing the Qiankun bottle, which made a glint of admiration flash in his eyes, though no trace of greed arose.

Even though a Void Treasure was incredibly valuable, far surpassing a Superior Grade Spirit Weapon and rivaling the top-tier Spirit Weapons listed in the early hundreds, or even top fifty, of the Da Xuan Spirit Weapon Catalogue, such a precious object was beyond his right to possess.

Regardless of whether the Void Treasure was Chen Mu's or not, even if Chen Mu offered it to him, Fang Yuan wouldn't dare to take it. He understood the principle that "the innocent can be guilty if they possess a treasure." Only upon entering the Blood Exchange Realm might one justly claim a Void Treasure.

"..."

After determining the amount of Xunmu Spirit Liquid, Chen Mu nodded slightly. After a brief contemplation, he turned to Fang Yuan and asked, "I've gathered quite an amount of Xunmu Spirit Liquid, and collecting more has little meaning for the moment. I'm considering finding a place to refine some of it. I wonder what Elder Fang plans to do next—will you join up with those others, or will you follow me to retreat for a while?"

He didn't intend to conceal the act of refining Xunmu Spirit Liquid, or rather, at this stage, there was no real need to hide any intentions. Body Refining cultivation was not like striking for the Blood Exchange Realm, and there was no fear of encountering mishaps mid-course.

On the other hand, Fang Yuan was slightly surprised by Chen Mu's words.

It had been almost a month and a half since everyone had entered the Xunmu Cave Heaven, with at most another month and a half remaining before they would have to leave, or else they would be trapped and unable to return.

With Chen Mu's abilities, he could easily continue the rampage and plundering. Even if the accumulations of many Spirit Human settlements were almost entirely pilfered, he could certainly garner another few dozen or hundred jin of Xunmu Spirit Liquid in the next month and a half.

Yet, Chen Mu intended not to plunder but to cultivate in seclusion, which to him seemed like a waste of opportunity.

After all, even with over a hundred jin of Xunmu Spirit Liquid aiding his cultivation for a short month and a half, how much could he possibly achieve? Moreover, he presumed Chen Mu's Martial Body was likely already refined to Perfection, and he had no idea how Chen Mu managed to cultivate his Martial Body to such a state in such a short time, but reaching that level left almost no room for further progress.

Let alone a hundred jin of Xunmu Spirit Liquid in a month.

Even with a thousand jin of Xunmu Spirit Liquid and three to five years of slow refinement, it might not significantly strengthen his Martial Body any further, other than some virtually negligible improvements.

But then again, if he had himself gathered over a hundred jin of Xunmu Spirit Liquid, he might consider ceasing as well, since that amount was basically sufficient. Now that there was no clash with Elders like Ling Huan and Ling Ji, it was a viable option to find a safe place to retreat and wait until a month and a half later to leave Xunmu Cave Heaven safely.