Chapter 146: Preparing to Head to Linyuan City
After hearing Zu Yuanji’s words, even his deputy was left dumbfounded.
You had to admit, how could Li Mu not dare say things like that?
It was not just that he himself had the ability. He also had a superior like Zu Yuanji standing behind him.
No wonder the boy was so bold.
All the deputy could do was carry those exact words back to the acting vice foreign minister of the Divine Elephant Nation.
Naturally, Zu Yuanji had his own considerations.
Li Mu and the Tiger Roar Army had already charged into battle and killed until the Divine Elephant Nation came crawling over to admit fault!
If he did not maximize the gains now, then would he not be failing the forty-one soldiers of the Tiger Roar Army who had given their lives?
And the attitude from above was also strongly in support of how this matter had been handled.
The Little Sakura Nation had remained silent earlier because it had been observing Huaxia’s response toward the Divine Elephant Nation.
Forty-one for forty-one thousand.
That was Huaxia’s response!
As for Li Mu, he could be called back and given his freedom, so that he would not have to remain pinned there and watch the place every single day.
But for the time being, his military post could not be transferred away.
From a practical standpoint, no one else could command Tiger Roar Camp now.
That was Li Mu’s basic power base.
If they wanted to transfer Li Mu away from his military post, then they would have to transfer the entire command structure and fighting force of Tiger Roar Camp as well.
When the news was sent back to the Divine Elephant Nation, their reply came in only seven hours.
They agreed!
Everything Huaxia demanded, they accepted.
On the surface, the Divine Elephant Nation had a population measured in the billions.
Losing forty thousand men did not seem like much. It should not have forced them to yield to Huaxia so quickly.
But the reality was otherwise.
If three Profound Rank fighters and a Tiger Roar Army of just over twelve hundred men could hammer the Divine Elephant Nation into this state over a single Vacuum Zone, then that meant the Divine Elephant Nation’s estimate of Huaxia’s true combat strength had been disastrously wrong.
If a real war broke out, then as a neighboring country, the Divine Elephant Nation would absolutely be the first nation Huaxia smashed to pieces.
And as for ceding land and paying compensation, while it looked like they were losing a huge swath of territory and resources, the resources themselves belonged to the Abyss to begin with.
Even if they refused to let go, could they really endure Li Mu dropping Heavenly Might on them every few days?
Could they really endure the Tiger Roar Army dragging monster hordes over every few days?
At that point, all the manpower stationed there and all the resources invested into developing the area would end up going down the drain.
It was far better to hand everything over to Huaxia as a gesture of goodwill.
As for cooperating with Huaxia on research into Abyss border adjacency and long-range point-to-point teleportation, that mattered even less.
Their own Abyss did not adjoin Huaxia’s anyway, and their point-to-point teleportation depended too heavily on the Golden Elephants.
If Huaxia, with their cooperation, managed to fully understand those two things, did the Divine Elephant Nation really think it would learn nothing from that in return?
The Pearl Military District quickly received instructions from the Bloodsea Military District as well.
The Divine Elephant Nation had bowed its head, and the Pearl Military District was to begin taking over the resources of the five Divine Elephant Nation camps.
At the same time, they were to stop Li Mu and make sure he did not keep killing.
Inside headquarters, the big shots sat together, all looking considerably more relaxed.
Liang Huajun said, “Then let’s call Li Mu back first. It’s been a long time already. Let him relax properly for a while.”
“When he came back yesterday, the killing intent on him was so heavy he looked like a vicious ghost.”
“Vice Commander Wang, you should go comfort him properly while you’re at it.”
Wang Longcheng froze.
“You want me to say it? You’re the commander, and you want me to give the order?”
Liang Huajun snapped back irritably, “Of course. He’s your man. If you don’t say it, who will? Have you ever seen that brat give me any face?”
“With all that killing intent on him right now, if I go stop him and he throws a couple of nasty lines at me, am I supposed to listen to them or not?”
When Zu Yuanji had asked for Li Mu’s opinion, he had not gone through the Pearl Military District.
He had privately asked Li Mu what he thought.
So the Pearl Military District did not know that it had been Li Mu who asked for territory and resources as compensation.
They assumed the Bloodsea Military District and the higher authorities had already reached an agreement on the compensation issue, and that they were now being asked to send someone to stop Li Mu.
Wang Longcheng looked troubled. In the end, he turned his eyes toward Deputy Commanding Officer Qin Zhanye.
Qin Zhanye immediately raised a hand.
“I vote for Vice Commander Wang to handle it. Vice Commander Wang, you can send Yinhuan.”
He even squeezed his eyes at Wang Longcheng after speaking.
Wang Longcheng glared at him irritably.
A few hours later, Tiger Roar Camp.
At the moment, the people of Tiger Roar Camp were repairing the damaged walls and facilities.
There had never been much of value there to begin with, and now the whole place looked battle-scarred.
Li Mu was outside clearing monsters.
Over the past month, Li Mu had hardly stopped at all, and had killed his way to more than two hundred thousand Triumph Points.
The biggest improvements, naturally, had been the Mid-Grade Heavenly Immortal Art and the Somersault Cloud. Those two alone had cost Li Mu two hundred thousand points.
The additional upgrades to the Somersault Cloud had cost another fourteen thousand.
After that, there was Li Mu’s Divine Weapon Art, which had finally been raised to twelve thousand jin!
He was only fifteen hundred jin short of that target weight now.
Of course, in terms of pure weight, it still could not compare to the Great Sage.
But now, when Li Mu brought his cudgel down in a strike, there was no one below the Profound Rank who could withstand even one blow.
Another thing worth mentioning was Mountain-Bearing Art.
It had now advanced to the strength of one dragon and two tigers.
One dragon and two tigers, together with the High-Grade Body-Fortifying Pill, meant that Li Mu could now control a weight of twelve thousand jin as he pleased.
As long as his cultivation rose a bit more—not much, just to the peak of the Eighth Grade or the early stage of the Ninth Grade—he would be able to handle thirteen thousand five hundred jin with ease.
At that moment, Li Mu’s Triumph Points had climbed back to 7,588.
Just then, his watch sounded. It was a message from Song Chuhe, telling him to return to camp.
Li Mu mounted the Somersault Cloud and quickly flew back to Tiger Roar Camp.
On the wall above the main gate, Song Chuhe was sitting cross-legged on the platform, wisps of black energy rising from his body.
His own Talent was a C-Grade Talent called “Returning Qi Flow.”
Its main effect was to let him recover True Qi faster.
But now that he had obtained Black Witchcraft, Song Chuhe had thrown himself into studying it completely!
Every day, he cultivated and researched it without pause.
That was because Black Witchcraft not only let him cultivate himself, it could also “blacken” and control Spirit Treasures!
Once a Spirit Treasure had been assimilated into his power, it would mutate and develop extremely tricky abilities.
At the very least, it would rise by one grade. At best, it could even rise by two.
Back then, when the black-robed warlock had blackened a large area and forcibly trapped Ma Jun and the others in place, he had used precisely that kind of magic treasure.
Up to now, Song Chuhe had already blackened four Spirit Treasures.
Although they were only two Mortal Grade items and two Special-Grade items, their functions were already beginning to show real power.
And for Song Chuhe, besides combat-oriented Spirit Treasures, he also had to consider the practical utility of a magic treasure.
Li Mu did not disturb him. Instead, he flew straight to the window of the command post.
At the moment, the command post door was shut, and only one person was inside.
Li Mu turned into a mosquito and slipped in through the window.
Inside the room, the one standing with her back to the door was Wang Yinhuan.
At that moment, Wang Yinhuan had her left hand cupped against her chest, with her right hand wrapped over it, talking to empty air.
“Have you been eating well lately? Has fighting been especially exhausting? You seem thinner...”
“Mmm...”
Halfway through, Wang Yinhuan shook her head, as though she felt that was not quite right.
“No, that won’t do. What if he’s gotten fatter instead?”
“How could fighting possibly make him fatter?”
“Then maybe I should say Aunt Ying instead. Have you been eating well lately? Has fighting been especially exhausting? I go see Aunt Ying often, and she misses you very much. She talks about you every day, and the wine at home has already been brewed for you. Aunt Ying wanted to send some over, but she was afraid it might affect your mood...”
“Ah... is that too much? What if he finds me annoying?”
Wang Yinhuan pouted at herself in dissatisfaction, constantly adjusting both what she wanted to say and the tone she would say it in.
Clearly, she cared a great deal about the way Li Mu saw her.
She was afraid that even the slightest thing might make him dislike her.
Listening to her, Li Mu’s heartbeat sped up for no clear reason.
He had originally wanted to tease her by suddenly appearing behind her and giving her a fright.
But if he showed himself now, that would really be too much.
It might genuinely leave Wang Yinhuan with a shadow in her heart.
So after thinking it over, Li Mu still chose to fly back out through the window and circle around to the main door.
He even deliberately coughed loudly twice before pushing the door open and walking in.
Wang Yinhuan had already put her hands behind her back again. She was looking at Li Mu with a faintly sweet smile.
“Oh? How come you’re here?”
Li Mu asked with a surprised smile, pretending not to know.
At that moment, Wang Yinhuan noticed that the wine gourd she had given him was actually hanging from his waist.
Her heart immediately began to race like a startled deer. She felt delighted inside, and her cheeks began to flush red as well.
“Dad sent me to pass on a message to you. You coughed just now. Have you caught cold?”
Wang Yinhuan stepped closer as she asked.
Li Mu almost failed to hold back his laughter.
The root of all illness in the human body lay in the disruption of the flow of vital energy.
As for things like wind-cold or ordinary chills, even Martial Artists would still show early symptoms in the beginning.
But once one reached the Third or Fourth Grade and above, a single circulation of True Qi was usually enough to dispel it.
As for Seventh or Eighth Grade Martial Artists, it was simply impossible for them to catch a cold.
Unless it was an illness caused by monster injury or by harm from a Cultivation Art.
This girl really was so nervous she was asking nonsense.
“I’m fine. What message did your father send?”
“The Divine Elephant Nation has already shown weakness. They’re willing to hand over the five major camps and the related resources, and they’ll also cooperate with Huaxia in research on Abyss border adjacency and point-to-point teleportation.”
“He wants you to stop killing and come back to rest for a while. In any case, there’s no longer any need for you to keep watching this place every day.”
“And also... Aunt Ying misses you too.”
Wang Yinhuan spoke gently, watching Li Mu’s reaction at every moment.
The task her father had given her was not just to pass on the message. She also had to bring Li Mu back.
Of course she wanted to complete the mission.
But even more than that, she wanted Li Mu to be willing to return because she had come...
“That damned Divine Elephant Nation lowered its head pretty quickly.”
“If it had been anyone else who came, I definitely would’ve had a few things to say.”
“But since you’re the one who came, then I have nothing to say. Fine, I’ll go back with you. It’ll be a good chance to go see Mom too.”
The moment Li Mu said that, Wang Yinhuan’s face flushed crimson, though the delight in her eyes could not be hidden at all.
She said shyly, “And also... haven’t I been doing my internship at the Research Institute in Linyuan City lately?”
“Linyuan City is really beautiful. You could go out and relax a little, treat it like a trip.”
“The military district in Linyuan City would welcome you very much too...”
Li Mu smiled and nodded.
He really had heard for a long time that the scenery in Linyuan City was beautiful.
More importantly, the Abyss beneath Linyuan City was completely different from the one beneath Ironhand City.
According to the experts, it was as if they were not even the same world.
If the handover on the Divine Elephant Nation side went smoothly, then there really was no reason for him to stay here any longer.
Going to Linyuan City for a look sounded good too.
When she saw Li Mu nod and agree, Wang Yinhuan smiled in secret delight, and her face reddened once more.
This time, Li Mu did not let her off. He reached out and touched Wang Yinhuan’s cheek with the back of his hand.
It was a sneak attack, and Wang Yinhuan had no time to react before Li Mu had already touched her.
Li Mu hissed and shook his hand as though he had been burned.
“Good heavens, are you running a fever??”
Wang Yinhuan instantly turned scarlet!
Biting the corner of her lip, she punched Li Mu lightly on the arm, then turned away and covered her face.
Li Mu burst out laughing.
Then he said to Wang Yinhuan, “Come on, open your mouth. I’ve got a present for you.”
Wang Yinhuan turned back in confusion, only to see Li Mu take out several dark little pills.
Two Qi-Gathering Pills, two Body-Fortifying Pills, and two Spirit Blossom Pills.
These were all newly refined by Li Mu.
Since he had not been in any great hurry to harvest them, many of the herbs had been left to grow for twice as long as before.
Their medicinal effects were far stronger than before.
Out of trust in Li Mu, Wang Yinhuan could only swallow them one by one as he handed them to her.
But Li Mu’s pills were still about the size of a fingernail.
Even if they dissolved easily, a girl still had to chew them a few times.
At that moment, Zhang Zhiwei and Lu Chenfeng arrived at the command post.
They knew why Wang Yinhuan had come, and judging that enough time had passed, they wanted to ask Li Mu when he was returning. They themselves had long wanted to go back into the city as well.
But the moment they reached the door, they heard things from inside like “stuffed full” and “swallow it down.”
Zhang Zhiwei turned and walked away at once.
Lu Chenfeng, utterly baffled, pressed himself to the door and began listening in.