Chapter 26

......

The best defense is undoubtedly an offense.

A sharp, crisp sound echoed.

The Soft Palm and Chen Mo's Tower-Bearing Hand collided perfectly, the soft and hidden force clashing with the strong and fierce force.

Chen Mo felt a surge of soft, hidden force explode, numbing his arms and causing him to kneel on one knee. The remaining force traveled up his arms, straight into his internal organs, and a mouthful of blood surged to his throat, making his face turn pale.

But the masked man was no better off. A faint crack indicated that his arm bone had broken. The mighty and domineering power of the Vajra Fist caused him to fall directly in front of Chen Mo.

Chen Mo, ignoring his own injuries, rushed forward in a single leap, delivering a Vajra Path punch with the speed of lightning. The wind from his punch struck the black-clothed man's chest, causing him to let out a惨叫 and spit out a mouthful of blood, soaking the veil.

Chen Mo was not about to stop. He mounted the man, like a mad beast, and his fists rained down on the man's forehead like a storm, until he was exhausted, and the black-clothed man was thoroughly dead.

If the black-clothed man had continued to attack from the side, Chen Mo would not have been able to use the Tower-Bearing Hand. His desire to annihilate the opponent led him to use this move, which was truly self-destructive.

Exhausted, Chen Mo spat out a mouthful of blood, swayed, and felt dizzy and disoriented, almost falling to the ground.

This life-and-death battle lasted for more than the time it takes to burn an incense stick. It was a severe test of physical strength, spiritual energy, and willpower. His blue robe, damaged by the opponent's soft and hidden force, was now tattered and ragged.

His injuries were not limited to the surface but were mostly internal, invisible injuries. The Soft Palm technique, though not as fierce and domineering, was filled with hidden, ruthless, and venomous forces.

It was said that when practiced to a high level, a light touch with the Soft Palm could shatter a person's internal organs into a pulp, leaving no visible signs on the surface, not even a damaged garment.

The masked man's cultivation level was clearly far from this.

Without rushing to dispose of the body, he sat cross-legged and began to heal his injuries using the spiritual technique. After a moment, his slightly pale face regained some color, and his internal injuries were under control.

This was a life-and-death battle, and he won, but the process was extremely dangerous. If he had made a mistake or if his overall strength had been slightly inferior, he, Chen Mo, might have ended up as a corpse lying here.

The masked man's overall strength was slightly superior to Chen Mo's, and his combat experience was more extensive.

This made Chen Mo feel fortunate. He removed the man's mask, and the blood-covered, grotesque face made him pause. The man had a kind face, and upon careful thought, he was likely one of the guests his uncle had recruited years ago.

Spit, indeed a despicable fellow, Chen Mo gritted his teeth and spat in anger. A good bird chooses its tree, which is not wrong. But for this man to turn around and betray his old master was truly despicable.

After a thorough search, he obtained some spoils.

A few scattered gold coins, several gold notes from the Wan Luo Bank, totaling fifty taels. There was also a movement technique secret, the "Willow Fluff Movement," which was a delicate silk handkerchief with vivid and intricate human action patterns embroidered on it, accompanied by various textual explanations, making it quite unique.

"Intermediate-level movement technique?" The information from the text made Chen Mo excited. His main cultivation technique, the Great Brightness Divine Technique, and the Vajra Fist he was currently practicing, were both of the lower rank. The Willow Fluff Movement, however, was of the intermediate rank. Comparing the two, the value of this secret technique was evident.

In comparison, the fifty taels of gold were much less valuable.

The clan's scripture hall did have intermediate-level movement techniques, but they required contribution points to exchange and could not be privately taught to anyone, with no exceptions. The "Willow Fluff Movement" was not among the techniques in the clan's scripture hall, as far as Chen Mo knew.

Thus, Chen Mo could not only cultivate it himself but, once he mastered it, could donate it to the clan, becoming one of the clan's spiritual techniques, in exchange for substantial contribution points.

He had no idea where this scoundrel had obtained the "Willow Fluff Movement" secret technique.

The various benefits made Chen Mo extremely happy, and he excitedly clenched his fist. This battle was worth it. Fortunately, he fought to the end and did not let the man escape.

......

Worried about the spirit fields at home, Chen Mo rushed back.

The entire spirit field was already brightly lit, with men, women, and children of the tenant farmers all working to capture the sheath-winged demon insects. However, the insects were numerous and very cunning, and their entire bodies had burrowed into the spirit grains, greedily sucking them.

After consuming one grain, they would fly to another, truly greedy.

The insects moved quickly, and even with fine nets, the tenant farmers had little success in capturing them, watching helplessly as the insects ravaged the spirit grains, crying in frustration.

Just as a demon insect spread its wings and flew past Chen Mo, he reached out and crushed it. A thick, sticky liquid from the spirit grain adhered to his fingers, making him feel a deep pain. These were all spirit grains, which were very valuable.

Fortunately, he had killed the thief and gained unexpected rewards. Especially the "Willow Fluff Movement" technique, which, when donated to the family, would earn contribution points far exceeding the loss of the spirit grains.

However, compensating for the loss did not mean he could watch the spirit grains be devoured by the insects. Even saving half, or even a third, would be good.

Despite Chen Mo's efforts to kill the aphids, most of them had burrowed into the spirit grains, making them difficult to kill. After half an hour, he had only killed a dozen or so.

A gray, flat stone rolled down and stopped at Chen Mo's feet. The stone had regular hexagonal cracks on its surface and suddenly "moved" a couple of times, then suddenly extended four limbs and a long... uh, turtle head.

It was Xiao Ba.

Xiao Ba followed Chen Mo, whether he moved quickly or slowly, always staying behind without falling behind.

Pulling open a rice stalk, Chen Mo was shocked to find seven or eight demon insects inside, greedily and wildly sucking the fresh sap, making him both shocked and angry.

Picking a spirit stalk, he found several spirit grains being ravaged by dozens of aphids. Enraged, Chen Mo used his Bright Spirit Energy to crush the insects and the grains, leaving a layer of sap on his hands.

"Ah wu..."

"Ka ba..."

Chen Mo's ears twitched, hearing the rustling sound of chewing nearby. He was startled, thinking another demon was destroying the spirit field. He quietly gathered his spiritual energy, moved more lightly, and parted the spirit rice plants to look.

As he parted the plants, he followed the sound, feeling the demon was nearby but could not find it. After searching the area thoroughly, he found no trace.

Feeling frustrated, he looked down and saw several claw marks on the ground, which seemed very familiar. Suddenly, he had an idea and turned around.

Xiao Ba lowered his body until he was completely on the ground, his head half-retracted into his shell, his green eyes looking up at the high spirit stalks. Then, his limbs suddenly exerted force, and he leaped into the air!

This was not the end. If this were all, he would only reach halfway up the spirit stalk, far from the top.

In mid-air, the head inside the turtle shell suddenly extended, and the seemingly short neck reduced the distance by half. His mouth was only half an inch from the rice stalk, and just as he began to fall, he extended his tongue, which was as long as a snake's, and wrapped the entire stalk into his mouth with a "Ah wu."

"Ka ba, ka ba..." The spirit rice stalk was chewed up, the entire head of the stalk in his mouth. Xiao Ba's face was expressionless, his eyelids half-closed like a regular turtle, his jaw moving, and his eyes innocently looking at Chen Mo as if nothing had happened.

If it weren't for the spirit stalk in his mouth, the branch still attached and not broken, Chen Mo would have thought he was dreaming.

Chen Mo suddenly remembered that this guy was also destroying the spirit rice, and his anger flared. He approached step by step.

Seeing his owner approach, Xiao Ba seemed to sense something was wrong and instinctively took a couple of steps back to create distance. Seeing his owner clench his fists and make a cracking sound, he finally realized something was wrong. At this moment, the turtle moved incredibly fast, turning around gracefully and running away without looking back.

But before he could run more than a couple of steps, he felt his neck tighten, unable to retract, and his body floated, the scenery around him falling. Then he saw a familiar face, the corners of the mouth clearly turned up, but the expression was not a smile.

"At this time, you still cause trouble." Chen Mo was furious, thinking about the many stalks he had yet to deal with, and this turtle was stealing the spirit grains. So he threw Xiao Ba into the air, his limbs spread wide and his head extended, drawing a beautiful arc in the moonlight and firelight.

"Whoosh—"

"Plop, plop..."

Just before hitting the ground, "swoosh," he retracted completely, and after rolling a few times on the field, he stopped.

Xiao Ba extended his long neck, rolled his eyes, and shook his head, feeling stars in his vision. He tried to extend his neck to eat again but felt dizzy and disoriented, his body feeling light and heavy. After a while, he realized he hadn't flipped over.

......

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