blueteamnovel Chapter 439 - 432: Conscription
Chapter 439 - 432: Conscription
Outside the southern gate of Antiquity City, in Chen Mu’s small courtyard, two Moonlight Trees had grown into towering behemoths. The massive canopy covering most of the courtyard was taller than the two-story building, and the palm-sized fiery red leaves rustled in the wind with a swishing sound.
Beside the round table under the trees, Chen Mu lay in a rocking chair.
He rested his right elbow on the arm of the rocking chair, raising his forearm so his palm was suspended in midair.
Accompanied by a string of lengthy and complex Curse Commands, black flames suddenly erupted from his entire right hand.@@@@
The flames burned silently, yet his palm remained unscathed.
Chen Mu, calm and collected, focused intently on the flames for half an hour.
Then, without warning, those quiet flames began to rage, like the waters of a dam bursting forth, rushing quickly from the palm up his arm.
He quickly sat up, stabbing his right hand to the side, plunging the forearm, which the flames had ignited, into a white jade bucket filled with River of Oblivion Water next to him.
Hiss!
Steam billowed, and the severe pain made Chen Mu’s face twitch. Clenching his teeth, he fixated his gaze on the bucket without blinking.
After a long while, when no more steam appeared, he slowly withdrew his arm. Quick as his reaction was, his entire right forearm was still burned to the point that only some white bone remained.
"That was truly dangerous!" Chen Mu exhaled deeply.
Ninety percent of the Yin Spirit Divine Power inside his body had dissipated abruptly, but his right hand began to regenerate at a speed visible to the naked eye, fully restored after only a few breaths.
"The Yin Spirit Divine Power won’t recover until tomorrow at the earliest, which delays time again," he lamented, shaking his head while tossing two Jade Dew Pearls into his mouth, crushing and swallowing them like candy.
Based on the characteristics of Yin Spirits, Chen Mu could use Divine Power to repair damaged limbs, but the consumed Divine Power was difficult to recover.
If invoking the Dew Harvesting Spell was akin to doing physical work, where a good meal and sleep could restore one’s strength, then the Divine Power spent on regenerating limbs was like cutting one’s own flesh. It pertained more to the essence and only by actively absorbing a large amount of Jade Dew to reinforce the foundation and nurture the origin could the power slowly be restored.
"That’s enough for today," he concluded. Without Yin Spirit Divine Power as a foundation, he dared not recklessly pursue his cultivation.
"It’s a pity that I still can’t break through the half-hour limit."
The Flight of Flame Scripture could summon the blue flames of Yin Spirits to refine one’s Yin Spirit essence. The longer one endured, the more likely Divine Ghost Patterns would emerge, while also potentially increasing the upper limit of Yin Spirit Divine Power.
Each time he cultivated, he pushed the limits of endurance, attempting to extend the duration bit by bit.
If he gave in to fear and ended the refinement prematurely, it would not expand his limits of endurance and the cultivation session would be wasted. Yet, if he got too greedy and extended the duration too much, the flames would erupt immediately and spread throughout his body.
It was this difficulty in accurately defining the boundaries of cultivation that made the Flight of Flame Scripture dangerous and arduous.
Chen Mu checked his grey wall, glancing at one of the entries.
Flight of Flame Scripture: 5352/10000;
As his experience accumulated, his speed in summoning the blue flames noticeably increased, as did the strength of his control over the flames.
"It’s a pity that the difficulty of this Secret Technique doesn’t lie in flame control."
Even if he mastered it to perfection, manipulating the flames as if they were his own limbs, he still couldn’t accurately control the extreme limit of endurance for refinement, which would still cause the flames to erupt violently.
"Indeed, I need to save up for higher-level Secret Techniques for cultivation."
...
In the South City Market, Imperial Goods Pavilion.
"Every time I come here, it’s so empty. With business like this, can you still afford to eat?" Chen Mu teased merrily.
"We value quality over quantity; the Imperial Goods Pavilion prefers to cater to high-quality customers," Le Yang’an replied cheerfully.
...
In the small courtyard.
Chen Mu lay in the rocking chair.
"According to Boss Le, the war of the Yin Spirits is neither in the Netherworld nor in the Yang Realm, so where exactly does it take place?"
"I’m still too inexperienced to figure it out," Chen Mu shook his head.
"Luckily I’ve only just arrived here. If I were to be conscripted, my life and death would be uncertain."
"And I have at least ten years before I can be forcibly conscripted—by that time, I may well have already left the Netherworld."
He was privately rejoicing when there suddenly came a knock at the door.
Chen Mu went to open it and saw two men dressed in black, one tall and the other short.
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"Is this Chen Mu?" asked the short, chubby, fair-faced man, smiling.
"It’s me," Chen Mu nodded.
"Your name has been added to the Conscription Order, and you will soon be dispatched as an auxiliary soldier with the army," the tall, thin man in black said with an icy face.
Chen Mu’s face turned pale on the spot.
...
In a bungalow in the west of Antiquity City.
Niu Sanmiao chewed on the braised meat voraciously.
"That bunch must have received their Conscription Orders by now. No matter who that bastard is, they’ve gotten their retribution," he said smugly, sipping his drink.
"Each conscription, there are always those who are too cowardly to die and refuse to enlist, not to mention those who have had their household registrations secretly switched countless times."
"Several new Yin Spirits, with no money or connections, can only accept their fate. Haha!"
Niu Sanmiao was delighted, dispelling the gloom that had lingered for many days.
"If they begrudgingly try to sneak out of the city, that would be even better!"
"Under the influence of the Soul Summoning Banner, it doesn’t matter how far they run."
"Once they’re forcibly summoned back, they’re bound to be sent to the Youyan Dead Soldier Camp. That is truly a fate worse than death. Haha!"
Lost in his exuberant thoughts, Niu Sanmiao’s Spirit shook with excitement, and the Divine Ghost Pattern, which had been stagnant for so long, started to quiver faintly!
Overcome with excitement, he was interrupted by a knock at the door.
He walked out of the room puzzled and opened the door to see the same two men in black, one tall, and one short.
"The City Lord commands that all the Yin Soldiers report to the Northern Great Camp immediately, awaiting deployment with the army," they said.
Niu Sanmiao’s face immediately changed, "Sirs, I’m part of the city’s patrol guards, responsible for maintaining order within the city. How could I be required to enlist?"
The short man in black smiled, "You can choose not to go."
"Unless you want to be sent to Youyan Camp!" the tall man in black said coldly.
Niu Sanmiao stiffened in an instant.