290: It seems the head of the family wants to play again.

"Could it be that this time, I, Li Mu, am going to fall here?!"

"You mustn't kill me!"

Seeing Li Mu's panicked expression, Gao Qiu couldn't help but curl her lips into a smirk. Long ago, she had been beaten by Li Mu until she had no power to fight back; now, she could finally vent her long-held resentment!

"Hmph! Scared now?"

"No one can save you this time!"

Gao Qiu snorted coldly. It seemed Li Mu's expression had given her another boost of confidence. The already sharp silk ribbon suddenly surged with even greater power, heading straight for Li Mu's forehead.

"You humiliated me last time; let's see who can save you now!"

Seeing her attack about to land on Li Mu's head, Gao Qiu's mood brightened instantly. She was already imagining how she would humiliate Li Mu later.

At the far end of the battlefield, Li Chen was also on a killing spree. To the current Li Chen, these Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were nothing more than power banks, falling one after another by his hand.

Li Chen also heard Li Mu's voice just now and looked over with some concern, only to see that Li Mu had already put away his panicked expression, his eyes now holding a hint of playfulness.

"It seems Family Head wants to play again..."

Li Chen slapped his forehead and shook his head, muttering a speechless complaint.

Sure enough, as soon as Li Chen finished speaking, Li Mu made his move!

Li Mu dropped his terrified look. Before the sharp Exquisite Silk Ribbon reached his forehead, he simply tilted his head slightly. The ribbon grazed past his forehead. Then, Li Mu slowly extended his right hand and seemingly pinched it gently with two fingers; the sharp silk ribbon was unable to move even an inch in his hand.

"I'm really so scared, you mustn't kill me!"

Li Mu was still speaking, but while the words were the same, his expression was now completely different. Before it was panic, but now his gaze toward Gao Qiu was filled with disdain.

"What?!"

"You dare trick me!"

The confident Gao Qiu saw that her attack had lost its power. How could she not realize that Li Mu had been playing with her all along?

She immediately let out an angry shout, then unexpectedly turned around and fled!

"Blood Blade, run!"

Although Gao Qiu was arrogant, she was smart enough. Seeing Li Mu catch her powerful strike so effortlessly, she knew she was absolutely no match for him. If the battle continued, she probably wouldn't be able to escape.

She immediately abandoned her Exquisite Silk Ribbon and turned to leave. Her soaring blood qi transformed into a red streak of light, heading straight for the distance.

Hearing the shout, Li Chen also knew he couldn't continue fighting. He glanced at the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators he hadn't finished killing, sighed regretfully, and quickly left the area.

Li Mu was somewhat stunned. "What the heck?"

"That's it?"

"I wanted to test my current strength, so why did she just run away?"

After a dissatisfied complaint, Li Mu didn't give chase. He hadn't intended to kill Gao Qiu during this operation anyway.

During their last meeting, Li Chen had told Li Mu that in order to gain the Hong Clan's trust, he had already taken Gao Qiu as his master.

Li Mu didn't say much about this situation, only telling Li Chen to be careful. Once he entered the Hong Clan, there wasn't much Li Mu could do to help him.

As the two figures gradually vanished, the heavily injured Zhuang Zhishan and others slowly woke up.

They were greeted by a chaotic battlefield, dead and injured clansmen, and corpses that had been sucked dry by Li Chen to level up. Looking up, a figure was still floating in mid-air—it was Li Mu.

"Family Head Li, where are the invaders?"

Hearing this, Li Mu looked down and noticed the awakened Zhuang Zhishan, then said in a low voice, "They were rescued!"

"You should all heal your wounds quickly. Once we return, start a manhunt for the invader named Blood Blade!"

Hearing this, Zhuang Zhishan didn't know why, but he nodded and complied. However, he still wanted to ask about the confusion in his heart.

So he sent a sound transmission to Li Mu, "Family Head Li, I have something I don't understand, please enlighten me!"

"No need to ask. You'll know when you're meant to know. Knowing too much won't do you any good!"

Li Mu's eyes narrowed, his sharp gaze fixed on Zhuang Zhishan. The words Zhuang Zhishan was about to say were immediately choked back in his throat.

"I understand!"

Zhuang Zhishan replied softly to Li Mu, then began to wake the injured clansmen and the still-unconscious Zhong Wenshan, preparing to leave the battlefield.

On the hilltop where Kong Si was hiding, Gao Qiu returned with the blood-covered Li Chen. Kong Si sat cross-legged at the highest point of the hill and slowly opened his eyes when he saw them return.

"How was it? Any gains?"

Gao Qiu knew Kong Si was asking about Li Chen's actions, so she answered respectfully, "Reporting to Fourth Elder, Blood Blade killed dozens of Leshan Prefecture Cultivators and fought alongside me; his strength is extraordinary!"

"Oh? So brave?"

Kong Si knew the strength of Leshan Prefecture. With Li Chen's current power, killing dozens was not difficult, but returning safely after the battle was the hard part.

Seeing Kong Si praise him, Li Chen reached out to wipe the blood from his face—blood that wasn't his—and said softly, "I did not disappoint the Fourth Elder; Blood Blade has already initially mastered his Origin energy!"

As he spoke, Li Chen slowly circulated his Cultivation Technique. A blood-red Origin energy gradually formed in his palm, and then, changes began to occur within that blood-red energy ball!

Inside the red blood sphere, a phantom floated. Seeing this, Kong Si flashed in front of Li Chen, his eyes fixed intently on the blood sphere condensing in Li Chen's hand!

The shock in his eyes was completely undisguised as he asked seriously, "You just mastered this?"

"Reporting to Fourth Elder, I comprehended it just as the battle ended!"

It turned out that the battle just now had helped Li Chen's strength improve significantly. At this moment, Li Chen's power was comparable to the Middle Stage of Soul Transformation.

Because of this increase in strength, when Li Chen condensed the energy in his body, he discovered he could finally mobilize that energy from the deepest part of himself.

This energy had existed since Li Chen was first infected by the invaders, but he had tried many times and could not use it for himself; it would only potentially erupt in moments of crisis!

But now, with his strength greatly increased, Li Chen could mobilize this energy at will. Although the intensity was not high, it was a very good start.

"Do you really not remember anything at all?"