Chapter 774: Calmness

The entire martial world was paying attention to the issue of territory allocation within the Lingxiao Palace…
The southern coastal cities were dominated by the Xiyi Gate and the Fengyu Alliance, who controlled the territory and resources left behind after the Lingxiao Palace’s withdrawal; whereas the eastern coastal cities were under the control of the Mu Family and the Xifeng Tower, along with some local large gangs, who managed the resources there.
And so, a week passed.
…
In Yangzhou City, at the Mu Family’s branch altar.
Fengling, holding her sword case gently, followed Yinhu to an ancient tomb outside Yangzhou City.
“Is it here?”
Although Fengling had taken the Life and Death Dream Pill, her martial skills had vanished entirely. Even an ordinary novice at the Mysterious Realm was now far stronger than her.
Yinhu turned around and nodded. “Practice here! I’ve already had people seal off the area—no one will disturb us…” He had also pleaded with Bai Xiaosheng for a long time before getting him to agree to let the Mu Family continue protecting Fengling and help her regain her former strength as soon as possible.
For this reason, he even volunteered to act as a messenger, drawing the attention of nearby Stone Men and Earth Puppets away from Fengling to create the safest and fastest environment for her to practice.
“Oh.”
Fengling effortlessly took out the repaired Magic Piano, placed her hands on the strings, and began plucking them methodically…
A large group of Stone Men, under the attack of the sound waves, felt as if they were being blown by a sharp breeze, with tiny particles constantly falling off their bodies.
Layer after layer of powder scattered into the air!
This was the initial power of the piano music—its lethality was extremely weak. For the Stone Men, it was like being scratched… completely lacking the once fearsome might and dominance.
After playing for a while, Fengling was already out of breath. Looking at the Stone Men, who remained indifferent and continued to attack Yinhu, she said helplessly, “It’s so slow…”
“Take your time. We have plenty of time,” Yinhu replied softly, opening his eyes. “I can use this time to practice my mental techniques and protective skills.”
“I don’t have any strength left…”
“Okay, then rest for a while if you’re tired,” Yinhu replied with utmost indulgence.
Fengling seemed a bit unaccustomed to the strange atmosphere between them. Her face turned red. “Brother Yinhu, where did your enthusiasm go? Are you still busy with Lingxiao Palace’s affairs?”
“Lingxiao Palace?”

Upon hearing this name, Silver Fox remembered that night. A cold glint flashed in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure. “Nothing more. The Lingxiao Palace has now been forced by the Xifeng Tower and various gangs to several cities along the northeast coast. Their forces have dwindled to less than 30,000. Even top experts like Haotian and Li Qing have left the Lingxiao Palace. The Qin sisters can only cling to survival relying on Yipin Hall’s dominance in the north and pose no threat to the Mu family. Happy doesn’t intend to go to extreme lengths to wipe them out.” Though he said this, Silver Fox knew it was actually just a compromise.

Yipin Hall, fearing the Mu family’s power, dares not take the initiative to confront them. But the Mu family has also suffered heavy losses—one-third of their elite forces have been wiped out, leaving them unable to engage in further battles with Yipin Hall. If they completely destroyed the Lingxiao Palace without leaving a trace, a clash between the two top gangs would be inevitable…

But Yipin Hall and the Lingxiao Palace are not exactly the same! Yipin Hall has a much stronger foundation! In a true showdown, the Mu family would win, but at a great cost… Under these circumstances, Happy doesn’t want foreign forces to have the chance to intervene in the Central Plains, so it’s still necessary to maintain the current balance. The cities occupied by the Lingxiao Palace serve as a buffer zone… The Xifeng Tower, located between the Lingxiao Palace and the Mu family, also acts as a buffer. The Lingxiao Palace dares not rashly enter Xifeng Tower’s territory, while Xifeng Tower, fearing Yipin Hall’s stronghold behind the Lingxiao Palace, holds back significantly.

Thus, the coast gradually returned to peace.

“What has Happy been up to these days? Is he preparing to take action against Yipin Hall?” Wind Bell asked curiously, looking at Silver Fox.

The latter shook his head. “Recently, there were messages from the Xifeng Tower saying that people from Longmen seem to have mixed in with Yipin Hall, along with a top expert from the White Robe Sect, ‘Jian Piao’. We’ve lost many of our elite forces. Even if we wanted to fight now, we can’t—it would be too costly…”

“Hmm,” Wind Bell nodded silently. “Besides, without the Marquis of Demon Sound on the battlefield, our Mu family lacks a trump card. Do we really have to wait until you recover?” Silver Fox laughed heartily.

Tch. Wind Bell rolled her eyes. How could she not tell he was just comforting her?

Silver Fox still didn’t reveal where Happy had gone, because not even he knew what Happy had been doing these days. Ever since the matters related to the Lingxiao Palace were largely settled, Happy had secretly gone north, but no one knew where—he hadn’t revealed it to anyone.

Although Yin Fox had thought that Happy might be trying to bring bad luck to Yipin Hall, upon further reflection, she realized it didn’t make sense—Happy couldn’t possibly provoke Yipin Hall into starting a war at such a time.
“Have you rested enough?”
“Mm.” Fengling placed the zither solemnly on her knees and began plucking it rhythmically. The gradually intensifying melody quickly carved thin trails through the crowd of stone men…
The lethality of the zither music had increased slightly!
…
At this very moment, thousands of miles away at the Tianmo Branch Hall, something rather strange was happening. Many disciples of the Mu family there noticed that since Happy left, the hall’s leader, “Fierce Dragon,” had not appeared outside the hall for many days, seemingly missing. However, Deputy Leader He Shiyi and the others took over Fierce Dragon’s duties, managing the Tianmo Branch Hall while also handling tasks related to the Tianmo Secret Caves. The equipment and strength of these three men ranked among the top three in the Tianmo Branch Hall, even surpassing Fierce Dragon, making them the main force for the Tianmo Secret Caves missions—known as the Tianmo Trio…
In the underground prison of the Tianmo Branch Hall, there was a man sweating profusely, fighting with determination against a master at the Wuwei realm. If anyone from the outside world were to enter here, they would be astonished to discover that all the masters imprisoned here were actually elders from the Devil Sect of the Tianmo Secret Caves.
And the person fighting one-on-one with Fierce Dragon was none other than the great elder of the Devil Sect, a peak-level expert at the Wuwei realm, who had been captured by chance!
Since that day, Fierce Dragon had not left his home, spending day and night practicing the martial arts manual given to him by Happy—The Great Sword Severing Art! It was a supreme martial art derived from the northern noble clans, taken from Jin Jiuyin Shi. Fierce Dragon knew well that once he mastered this art, he might have a chance to surpass the three men of the Tianmo Trio. So, he practiced for long hours every day, dedicating almost all his time to advancing in the levels of The Great Sword Severing Art.
There were two volumes of The Great Sword Severing Art! Happy had given them all away… Far away at the western border, Fengwu Caiyi was also tirelessly striving to master The Great Sword Severing Art, aiming to become a top expert.