It must be said, Wang Mu was quite satisfied.

Different skills affected his various abilities.

Chopping influenced his Qi, fishing influenced his spirit, mining influenced his physique, and hunting influenced his agility.

"With the remaining two months of the year, I'll focus more on chopping and fishing to raise those two skills to 20."

"It should be fairly easy."

Mining was the skill that had improved the fastest. In these two months, it had risen from level 7 to 20, almost entirely due to mining this Divine Ore.

After all, mining this material was very difficult and provided excellent practice.

Once everything is at level 20, I too will be a Hexagonal Warrior. With no shortcomings. Perhaps... I could then cultivate the Hundred Refinement Body Technique using action points.

These skills, for a regular person with average talent, might only reach level five or six after more than a decade of practice.

The villagers of Anle Village were all highly talented, almost all exceeding level ten.

Someone like the village chief, whose hunting skill was probably at level twenty, was even stronger.

The village chief was skilled in other abilities as well. Things like fishing, mining, and chopping—the village chief knew them all, though not to a high level.

Upon returning to the village, Wang Mu found it somewhat bustling.

He saw three disciples from Immortal Sects at the village gate.

However, these Immortal Sect disciples didn't seem to have come from Gu Yun Mountain but rather from some other place.

Their Sect garments differed greatly from those of the Shangxiao Sword Sect on Gu Yun Mountain.

Wang Mu approached Aunt Hong, who was drying jerky outside the village, and asked, "Aunt Hong, what's going on?"

"Oh, Little Mu is back, that's good," Aunt Hong said cheerfully. "These people are visitors from afar. Little Mu, you probably haven't seen many people from the outside world, have you? Well, these are..."

I should have seen people from the outside world before, right? Little Jiao Huo wasn't considered human. Then there was Luo Qifang, whom I met in the mines, and that Demoness in the Divine Wood Forest...

"These are Cultivators from outside Gu Yun Mountain," Aunt Hong explained. "They rarely come to Gu Yun Mountain. According to the village chief, these three want to hunt Fierce Beasts in the Divine Wood Forest and need a guide familiar with the area. Thus, they came to Anle Village, the village nearest to the Divine Wood Forest."

"Their leader, the one with the fox-like face, is quite handsome—take a look, Little Mu. What a pity he's a man."

Aunt Hong pointed ahead.

The leader of the three was a man dressed in a purple, wide-sleeved robe. He wore a dragon-embossed jade belt at his waist, from which twin silver tassels hung at his side, giving him a luxurious appearance.

His face was masculine, yet his complexion was like jade.

His waterfall-like hair was impeccably groomed, and he held a black-ink feather fan depicting a scene of fish playing among lotuses. The fish seemed to swim as if alive—it was indescribably exquisite.

The man exuded the aura of an elegant gentleman from a troubled world.

He's truly handsome! Wang Mu felt his own good looks were slightly challenged, though he didn't pay it much mind.

"Oh! Little Mu is back!"

The village chief, who was at the forefront discussing matters with them, saw Wang Mu and cheerfully waved. "Come over here, I have a task for you!"

Wang Mu walked over. Anle Village was indeed very hospitable. This was mainly because the place was quite remote, surrounded by mountains and water, isolated from the world, and rarely had visitors. On the rare occasion they had visitors, Anle Village was quite pleased.

"Come, come!" The village chief grabbed Wang Mu by the shoulder and introduced, "This is an Immortal Master from the Shuiyun Sect, located north of Huangtian Continent near Bihai Lake. Their leader is named Qin Yuyan, and the other two are his attendants."

"These three traveled thousands of miles to Gu Yun Mountain. They heard that the Divine Wood Forest abundantly produces a special kind of Divine Wood known as Age Birch, and a type of bird called the Crying Blood Black Spirit."

The village chief continued, "They are here, firstly, to search for Divine Wood, and secondly, to hunt this type of bird."

The village chief had a benevolent expression. "They're looking for a guide, and in our village, you're the most capable young man right now! You must perform well!"

Expectation filled the village chief's tone.

"Brother Wang Mu," Qin Yuyan said with a slight smile, "the village chief just told me. He said that although you don't have a Spirit Root, you possess extraordinary talent and are extremely familiar with this area. If you can help us find these two items, I can take you back to our Shuiyun Sect and help you embark on the Immortal Path!"

Wang Mu suddenly understood why the village chief was so enthusiastic. Speaking of cultivation, the village chief and the other villagers probably wished they themselves could cultivate. No wonder he was so enthusiastic about this offer.

Age Birch was indeed a rare Divine Wood resource from the Divine Wood Forest. Chopping such Divine Wood was quite difficult, but for Wang Mu, it wasn't a problem.

The Crying Blood Black Spirit was even simpler; it was merely a Fierce Beast in bird form. For outsiders, this bird—capable of emitting soul-stirring cries and being extremely swift and agile—was indeed hard to capture quickly. For Wang Mu, however, it was just a matter of one arrow. The difficulty wasn't high.

Wang Mu glanced at the three individuals. He had never heard of the Shuiyun Sect, and from the village chief's expression, it seemed... it was also his first time hearing of it. It probably wasn't one of the larger Cultivation Sects. Compared to the Shangxiao Sword Sect of Gu Yun Mountain and the Fengyue Sect, it was definitely of a lower tier.

But... this time there's no Travel display either. However, unlike last time when that woman was attacked by a Fierce Beast... Last time was too bizarre. The Divine Wood Forest is so vast; encountering her without a Travel display was clearly suspicious. But this time, even without Travel, I would have eventually returned to the village and was bound to encounter them.

Wang Mu pondered for a while. He felt the situation this time was relatively normal. After all, even without a Travel prompt, he was bound to encounter such people eventually. Moreover, it had been nearly two years; encountering an outside visitor was understandable.

Wang Mu did hope to join a Cultivation Sect, even if it wasn't the Sword Sect on Gu Yun Mountain. That Sword Sect still had Yan Qingwu, and Wang Mu was somewhat worried about her recognizing him. Who knew when he might be deemed a scoundrel and be cut down by a sword. So, as long as it wasn't an extremely dangerous Evil Path Sect, any reasonably normal Cultivation Sect would do for Wang Mu.

"Fine! When do we leave?" Wang Mu nodded.

"How about tomorrow? It's a bit late today, and there are more Fierce Beasts at night. The three of us aren't very strong, and I've heard there are some very powerful Fierce Beasts in the Divine Wood Forest," Qin Yuyan said cautiously.

"That works. We'll set off early tomorrow morning," Wang Mu stated plainly.

Having agreed on the itinerary, Wang Mu returned to his wooden hut to rest, while Qin Yuyan and his two companions were arranged by the village chief to stay in a wooden hut on the west side of the village.

「Inside the wooden hut.」

Qin Yuyan whispered to his two attendants, "Tomorrow, act according to the plan. Do not make a single mistake."

"Yes!" one of them said. "Will this really work?"

"Rest assured!" Qin Yuyan gently waved his feather fan, his exquisitely beautiful face showing a calm smile. "I have already studied our prey; this plan cannot possibly fail!"

"If it fails, I'll no longer be a man!"

The two opened their mouths as if to speak, but ultimately said nothing.

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