Chương 234: Chapter 123: The Martial Arts Tower, A Brick Falls From the Sky

The Mu Family, the Martial Arts Tower. As the primary venue for the younger generation of the Mu Family to spar, compete, and exchange insights on cultivation, this location was perpetually alive with activity. The grand pavilion stood three stories high, spanning a vast footprint of over a thousand zhang. Its architectural design was grand, majestic, and immensely imposing.

The wooden plaque hanging above the main entrance, bearing the three calligraphy characters for "Martial Arts Tower," had been personally inscribed by the Mu Family Ancestor using his supreme magical powers. Infused with a faint, imperceptible aura of the Nascent Soul Grand Dao, it imparted a towering, heaven-piercing momentum to the entire structure, making it resemble a monstrous beast crouching upon the earth. Today, the crowd gathered within the tower was far larger than usual.

So numerous were they that many weaker Mu Family cultivators were unable to secure a place inside and were forced to stand on the stone plaza in front of the building. Gathering in small groups of three and five, they whispered anxiously among themselves, their faces dark with worry. Earlier that day, the Ancestor had suddenly unleashed an astonishing aura and soared into the sky with a thunderous roar.

That earth-shattering pressure had left everyone reeling, their minds shaken, while an underlying sense of dread crept into their hearts. What could have possibly transpired to make their Ancestor—a grand elder who usually maintained an extremely low profile and moved like a divine dragon, elusive and mysterious—lose his composure to such a degree? Although the Ancestor returned mere moments later, the young cultivators found themselves completely unable to focus on their training.

It was precisely because of this unsettling disturbance that the Martial Arts Tower was so packed and bustling today. On the third floor: Those capable of stepping onto this top floor were all the absolute elite among this generation of the Mu Family. Every single one possessed an arrogant bearing, and even though anxiety lingered deep within their hearts, they were unwilling to lower their proud heads even a fraction.

At this moment, a Soap-robed Cultivator seated near a corner suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence.

"The Ancestor burst out in such fury today that something major must have occurred beyond our knowledge. However, aside from Senior Brother Reyn's Foundation Establishment breakthrough, our Mu Family has experienced no significant events recently. Could this matter actually be connected to Senior Brother Reyn?" The moment his voice fell, the expressions of the many Mu Family cultivators on the third floor shifted in unison.

Dozens of sharp gazes turned simultaneously toward a small group seated in the corner on the left side of the room. Xing Tianxie frowned slightly. He had already been feeling deeply restless and uneasy all day, and being stared at so intensely by everyone made a wave of irritation rise in his chest. Yet, knowing these individuals held no small status within the Mu Family, he could only pick up the wine cup before him, drain it in a single gulp, and pretend to notice nothing.

Beside him, Ling You'er could not help but knit her delicate brows. A flash of anger swept across her beautiful face as she cast a fierce, icy glare toward the Mu Family disciple who had spoken. She was already fraught with worry over Reyn's safety, so naturally she was in no mood to grant this man any courtesy. As for Jun Wuqing and Ge Yucheng, they raised their wine cups just like Xing Tianxie, downing their drinks with perfectly composed expressions.

However, deep within Jun Wuqing's eyes flickered a subtle glint of curiosity, whereas Ge Yucheng's heart was steeped in a bitter, melancholic sorrow. Seeing that the four offered no reaction whatsoever, the Mu Family cultivator who had spoken frowned slightly. He cupped his hands in a polite greeting and asked, "Fellow Daoist Xing Tianxie, everyone knows you are close friends with Senior Brother Reyn. If you happen to know the underlying cause of today's events, would you mind sharing it with the rest of us?"

"Indeed! Even if Fellow Daoist Xing Tianxie only knows a small fraction of the truth, why not speak out so we can discuss it together?"

"The Ancestor's movement today was truly peculiar. Based on my deductions, it must surely be related to Senior Brother Reyn."

"We ask Fellow Daoist Xing Tianxie to please speak frankly and enlighten us." Across the third floor, the Mu Family cultivators seated at various tables all cupped their hands in unison, raising their voices in a collective, pressuring query. A flicker of displeasure crossed Xing Tianxie's face. He took a deep, steadying breath, stood up, and declared in a solemn voice, "Fellow Daoists of the Mu Family, I am just like all of you—I know absolutely nothing about what transpired today!"

"However, as Brother Reyn's friend, I urge you all not to engage in wild, ungrounded speculation before the truth comes to light. None of us know the actual reason behind today's events, so how can we jump to conclusions so carelessly?" After speaking, his sharp gaze swept across the entire third floor before he turned and sat back down, refusing to utter another word.

The assembled Mu Family cultivators exchanged glances, utterly surprised that Xing Tianxie would speak with such disrespect—his tone almost carried a hint of admonishment. This instantly stirred a surge of anger in their hearts. Yet, because his words were entirely logical and reasonable, they could not easily explode in outrage. In the end, they could only snort coldly and drop the subject for the moment.

Seeing this, Jun Wuqing glanced at Xing Tianxie and whispered softly, "Fellow Daoist Xing Tianxie, we all understand that you are deeply concerned for Fellow Daoist Reyn and thus in a foul mood, but speaking so bluntly makes it far too easy to offend people needlessly." A bitter smile tugged at the corner of Xing Tianxie's mouth, and he shook his head slightly without answering. With his habitually cautious and prudent nature, he never would have acted so recklessly in the past.

Yet for some unknown reason, hearing these people cast veiled aspersions on Reyn had ignited an inexplicable flame of resentment within his heart, driving him to speak out on impulse. Ling You'er, on the other hand, looked at Xing Tianxie with eyes full of admiration. Her small head nodded repeatedly, clearly approving of his bold stance. Ge Yucheng lifted his wine cup, tilted his head back, and drained it completely.

In an unhurried, calm tone, he remarked, "They are merely a bunch of envious cowards idly slandering others behind their backs. Hardly the conduct of true gentlemen." Though his voice was not loud, he made no effort to suppress it, allowing every single person on the third floor to hear it crystal clear. Xing Tianxie and the others looked up in surprise, astonishment written across their faces. They had certainly not expected Ge Yucheng to speak out so brazenly and without restraint.

Although everyone held the exact same thought in their hearts, stating it directly to their faces was no different from giving all these Mu Family cultivators a resounding slap in the face in public.

"Hmph!" The moment his words fell, the faces of the Mu Family cultivators on the third floor darkened completely. Ge Yucheng's mocking comment had struck them directly where it hurt most. These individuals had always prided themselves on being direct line disciples of the Mu Family, considering themselves superior to others and looking down on foreign cultivators.

Yet Reyn had burst onto the scene out of nowhere; his terrifying cultivation and formidable divine abilities were enough to strike terror into the hearts of any peers. Furthermore, he possessed the supreme fortune of being taken in as a disciple by their ancestor. Such incredible luck naturally left these self-proclaimed Favored Sons of Heaven feeling deeply unbalanced and consumed by envy. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Fellow Daoist Ge, mind your tongue and exercise caution with your speech. Spouting nonsense like that makes it very easy to forge deadly enemies!" The speaker was seated near a window. All three cultivators at that table were glaring menacingly toward Ge Yucheng. These three individuals—Mu Xin, Mu Yu, and Mu Wen—were the most exceptionally gifted young cultivators in the Mu Family second only to Mu Nianxing.

Their cultivation had already reached the Late Foundation Establishment stage, and their spiritual energy and divine abilities were extraordinary. Furthermore, although they were not blood brothers, they had practiced a specialized secret technique; when combining their strength, their joint power was shockingly formidable, capable of standing against ordinary Golden Core cultivators without the slightest fear!

"The three of us were in secluded cultivation breaking through to the Late Foundation Establishment stage, so while we missed the events in the Trial Realm, we have heard a fair bit about this Reyn's grand reputation. However, rumors are mostly exaggerated falsities. Since none of us have witnessed his divine abilities with our own eyes, who is superior and who is inferior remains to be seen!"

As soon as these words were uttered, a flush of proud arrogance returned to the faces of the assembled Mu Family cultivators. Most of them had only heard tales of Reyn's divine abilities and prowess; though awe and fear lingered in their hearts, they were by no means completely convinced.

"Precisely! Why on earth should we harbor envy toward him? Our Mu Family boasts countless prodigies and geniuses; who is to say there isn't someone among us who can completely overpower him!"

"For us to envy Reyn is truly absurd! Although that fellow managed to secure a place under the Ancestor's tutelage, his status is nothing more than a hound raised by our Mu Family to guard our courtyard! How could his pathetic standing ever hope to compare to ours?!"

"Who in the entire Zhao Kingdom's cultivation world does not know that our Mu Family stands supreme at the absolute head of all factions? As proud disciples of the Mu Family, our status and position are exalted far above the masses! Why would we ever need to resort to the despicable, petty behavior of villains?!"

"What this girl says is truly laughable to the extreme." That Mu Family cultivator on the third floor scoffed with a cold, derisive sneer, his words dripping with unbridled contempt and arrogance. Hearing their scathing remarks, Ling You'er's delicate face flushed crimson with sheer indignation. Their deliberate disparagement of Reyn stirred a fierce, burning wrath within her heart.

Unable to hold back her anger any longer, she let out a clear, sharp outcry: "If Brother Reyn were standing right here before you, would any of you dare utter a single one of those words to his face?! You only dare to slander him behind his back—that is the true behavior of cowardly villains!" Upon hearing her sharp rebuke, the expressions of the Mu Family disciples stiffened visibly.

Uncomfortable grunts echoed among them as awkwardness crept onto their faces, completely unable to construct a valid counterargument.

"Hmph! The three of us brothers have only just emerged from closed-door seclusion, so we know nothing of how formidable this Reyn supposedly is! If the opportunity arises in the future, we shall certainly exchange pointers with him—if only to make all of you clearly understand that our Mu Family is, and always will be, the undisputed strongest!" Mu Xin's eyes glinted with a dark, gloomy malice as he scoffed coldly.

Yet, the very instant his arrogant words left his lips, a violent shockwave suddenly rattled the earth and split the heavens! In the next breath, before the stunned, uncomprehending gazes of everyone present, a colossal brick—so impossibly vast it blotted out the entire dome of the sky—descended with the terrifying momentum of tens of thousands of crashing mountains, slamming violently down toward a specific sector of the Mu Family estate!

A tyrannical, merciless aura, as vast and unfathomable as a raging ocean, erupted wildly from the surface of that monumental brick, causing everyone's faces to instantly drain of color as their bodies shuddered in uncontrollable terror! At that precise moment, a shrill, roaring, and absurdly arrogant shout reverberated across the vast canopy of heaven: "You damned old ghost of the Mu Family! What have you done to this glorious deity's master?!

If anything has happened to him, this divine spirit will personally turn your Mu Family into a slaughterhouse of chicken feathers and duck blood, ensuring you never know a single day of peace ever again!" Hearing those thunderous, wildly arrogant words, absolute shock and terror seized everyone's faces once more! Xing Tianxie's pupils contracted violently to the size of pinpricks. Staring up at the mountain-sized brick blotted against the sun, he cried out in utter disbelief, "A Dao Artifact!"

Hearing his cry, enlightenment crashed over the onlookers in an instant. A treasure possessing such world-shattering, cataclysmic power—and endowed with its own independent, living consciousness—could only be a legendary Dao-grade magic artifact!

"Oh no! That... that location where the giant brick is crushing down is the Hall of Ten Thousand Longevities!" Suddenly, a disciple of the Mu Family caught sight of the terrifying trajectory and let out a bone-chilling, soul-shredding shriek. Hearing his blood-curdling scream, everyone's bodies trembled violently in unison. They whipped their heads around in horror, only to bear witness to that cataclysmic, world-ending strike crashing with unrestrained fury directly onto the Hall of Ten Thousand Longevities.

As the sacred residence of the Mu Family Ancestor, the Hall of Ten Thousand Longevities was naturally protected by layer upon layer of formidable, ancient restrictive seals. Under the sudden, violent assault, these defensive arrays automatically activated in a frenzy, blinding flashes of array light erupting continuously across the structure! However, how terrifying was the power of a Dao Artifact?

Even if its autonomous strike could not quite match the absolute full-power blow of a living Nascent Soul expert, the difference was virtually negligible. In less than a single breath, those countless ancient restrictive seals were violently shattered! Stripped of their protective magic, the grand palatial complex beneath was as fragile as a sculpture of loose sand, completely pulverized in an instant!

Beneath the immense weight of that single, catastrophic strike, more than half of the glorious Hall of Ten Thousand Longevities was instantly reduced to a smoldering heap of rubble and ruin!

"Hmph, hmph! Did you honestly think such trashy, pathetic restrictions could ever hope to block this glorious deity?! Wishful thinking!" The gigantic floating brick roared with wild, mocking laughter once again.

"Old Ghost Mu! Hand over this deity's master this instant, or this divine treasure will smash you into a bloody pancake!" With that furious roar, the colossal brick rose high into the heavens once more, glowing with an ancient cyan brilliance. Expanding to several hundred zhang across, it descended a second time with unimaginable velocity.

The sheer visual impact was overwhelming—it felt as though under the crushing force of this single strike, the very fabric of heaven and earth would fracture and collapse into oblivion!

"Presumptuous! Who dares come to my Mu Family and act so insolently?! Have you truly grown tired of living?!" From deep within the ruins of the shattered Hall of Ten Thousand Longevities, a terrifying, earth-shattering aura abruptly exploded into existence. The environmental spirit Qi in the surrounding void violently condensed on its own, coalescing into a colossal, three-hundred-zhang giant arm.

Resembling the legendary limb of an ancient primordial fiendish god, it hurled itself skyward, slamming viciously against the descending brick! BOOM! The two titan-like powers violently collided in midair! The wild, overflowing waves of elemental mana transformed into a terrifying shockwave of utter destruction, sweeping outward in a devastating radial ring. The remaining portion of the Hall of Ten Thousand Longevities and every surrounding pavilion within range were instantly erased from existence.

Dozens of Mu Family disciples, caught completely unprepared by the sudden aftermath, didn't even have time to scream before being ground into blood-stained powder! A black-robed shadow shot upward from the shattered ground like an arrow released from a taut bow. As his dark, piercing gaze swept over the surrounding scene of total devastation, an uncontrollable, murderous intent surged violently in his heart.

"Damned filth! This Monarch will never let you leave here alive!" In an instant, the skies above transformed dramatically! Ink-black clouds churned violently across the heavens while crackling bolts of lightning and deafening thunder shattered the sky. An invisible, suffocating pressure settled over the entire Mu Family estate, trapping every soul within a realm of despair!