Dual Cultivation In Martial Peak

Chapter 84: The Medicine King's Valley's Saviour

Following the attack from the Ash Grey Cloud Evil Land, the Medicine King's Valley was in a state of alert, slowly recovering their losses while mourning for the disciples who were abducted by the Demonic Cultivators.

Those who came to participate in the Alchemist Summit had also experienced heavy losses, and it was unknown just how many went missing.

In addition, the Great Forces who participated in defending this place also suffered numerous casualties. Everywhere one looked in Medicine King's Valley, corpses and blood stained this once holy and pure land. As for the valley town, countless houses had collapsed; the losses couldn't even be calculated.

And worse of all, the Hidden Cloud Peak had disappeared entirely, leaving behind a giant crater instead—tainting the Medicine King's Valley's thousands of years of legacy.

The Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land's actions had drawn condemnation from all sides and infuriated all the forces. Within a day, even the Eight Great Families had sent their experts to join the counterattack discussions and assist in rescuing the abducted Alchemists.

However, the information Xiao Fu Sheng gave them shocked everyone.

The Demon Lord had returned!

No one wanted to believe that news, but since it was Xiao Fu Sheng who said these words, the situation was not the same.

Not to mention, the fact that three of the Six Evil Kings attacked the Medicine King's Valley while cooperating was proof of the Demon Lord's existence.

There had been rumours about the Demon Lord's existence, but now, these were no longer simple rumours.

The whole world instantly became alert as a sense of tension gripped the land; spies from all of the Great Forces were frequently deployed to the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land to gather any scrap of reliable intelligence.

But what they reported was even more difficult to believe.

A mysterious new Demon Lord had indeed risen in the Ash-Gray Cloud Evil Land. To make it worse, this person had seemingly just appeared and had swiftly seized absolute dominion over the six Evil Kings, now reigning unchallenged over the entire region.

The situation was far more precarious than imagined and caused many to panic.

But some also held hopes in their hearts.

After all, a single cultivator managed to kill two of the three Evil Kings who invaded the Medicine King's Valley.

The deaths of Tyrannical Force King and Thunderbolt Beast King came out as an even bigger shock than the Demon Lord's emergence.

Not only did the cultivator kill two Evil Kings by himself, but he also saved Xiao Fu Sheng's life and the entire Medicine King's Valley.

The Medicine King's Valley had deemed that individual their eternal saviour.

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However, at this moment, the Medicine King's Valley's saviour was unaware of what had happened while he slept for over seven days.

"I'm fine, so stop crying…"

"But Master told me what happened to Brother Su…"

'Treasurer Meng, you need to learn how to hide certain things from your disciple…'

Su Mu gently patted the back of Xia Ning Chang's head, letting her vent those intense emotions while tightly hugging him.

From what he knew, she hadn't left his side once after he fell asleep a week ago, constantly checking up on him.

And from what Xia Ning Chang said, she was the only one outside of the battle to know about Su Mu's 'death.'

"It's alright. That wasn't me... You know that my real body is fine, right? Most of my physical injuries have already healed, and all of my limbs are still intact…"

Then again, the real setbacks of that battle had little to do with his physical body.

"Even so…"

"Regardless of what happened, I must thank Sister Xia first…"

"Thank me?"

"Yes… After all, you helped me in that battle as an Alchemist should…"

"All I could do was escape… If it were Su Yan, Hu Jiao'er, or Hu Mie'er, they would've stayed and helped Brother Su…!"

Su Mu smiled at her words. "I know their strengths and talents well, but even if the three of them were present in that battle, they couldn't have helped me as much as Sister Xia did without even being there."

"As much as me?"

Xia Ning Chang didn't move from her position, her forehead still resting on Su Mu's chest.

"If it weren't for the Saint Grade Healing Pills you refined for me, I wouldn't have survived that battle…"

His strategies relied heavily on the pills Xia Ning Chang refined while they were inside the Myriad Drug Pond.

If he never had those, killing two Transcendent Realm Cultivators or surviving heaven's wrath would've been impossible with his current cultivation.

"An Alchemist helps cultivators by refining pills for them—not with brute strength. That's how the Dao of Alchemy works. You don't have to blame yourself for not being a fighter…"

Su Mu understood that Xia Ning Chang blamed herself for her lack of strength to participate in that battle because she cared for him, but as an Alchemist, her thinking was flawed.

She needed to understand her strengths and value as an Alchemist.

"And honestly, you were a lot more helpful than Treasurer Meng…"

"You shouldn't say that…" Xia Ning Chang let out a weak laugh at those words, releasing him from the hug before wiping the tears in her eyes. "Master would be sad if he heard that…"

Su Mu didn't mean the thing he said about Meng Wuya.

He only said it to lift Xia Ning Chang's mood, and from her reaction, it worked as he expected.

"Thank you, Sister Xia…"

"No…" Xia Ning Chang smiled sweetly. "I'll always help Brother Su by refining the best pills I can for him…"

Without even thinking about it, Su Mu kissed Xia Ning Chang, and she closed her eyes, leaning forward.

Following that, the two of them talked for around an hour, and she told him about everything that happened within the Medicine King's Valley while he was asleep.

"By the way, Brother Su… How did you do that?"

Even though she didn't specify anything, Su Mu understood what Xia Ning Chang was curious about.

Over the last week, Meng Wuya made sure to collect the parts of Su Mu's 'corpse' to not let anyone other than Xia Ning Chang find out about what happened at the Hidden Cloud Peak.

The old man also took the liberty to confirm that the parts he found indeed belonged to Su Mu.

"It's a Forbidden Technique I created as an Origin Returning Realm Cultivator… Even after including what happened a week ago, I haven't used it more than five times in both lives…"

"Forbidden Technique?"

Xia Ning Chang understood the meaning of that name, but it was the first time she ever heard of such a thing.

"They're different from normal or evil secret arts and techniques… While they grant immeasurable benefits, the drawbacks are quite awful. Evil Secrets Techniques need the practitioner to do evil deeds to others, but forbidden ones cause harm to the practitioner instead…"

A perfect example would be one of the best Secret Arts to ever exist—Heaven Devouring Battle Law.

"Wait…" Xia Ning Chang's face paled slightly. "What kind of drawbacks did it have?"

Rather than answering her question directly, he asked another question. "You know about my Movement Technique, right?"

"Seven Divine Steps?"

"Yes… Although it is a single technique now, each of the 'seven steps' are altered versions of different secret techniques I created throughout my life." Su Mu explained, leaning back on the bed's headboard. "The [Third Step] allows me to create afterimages while moving. Unlike normal afterimages, they are impossible to distinguish from the user, even if someone used their Divine Sense."

"Then, the [Third Step] is—!"

"An extremely watered-down version of the Forbidden Technique I used a week ago..." Su Mu answered her question before she could even finish. "The Forbidden Technique allows me to manifest physical clones of myself with the same or lower cultivation base from nothing. Their flesh, bones, muscles, and even their Qi appear out of nowhere…"

"To think such a thing was possible…!"

"We cultivate to make such things possible... As long as an appropriate price is paid, everything is possible with enough knowledge…"

"Then, what was the price Brother Su paid?"

"The technique works on a Dao Oath that requires me to 'lend' some of my memories and Dao Comprehension to the clones depending on how much strength I want them to possess… If they die, I lose those memories and comprehension, and the injuries a clone suffered are transferred back to me. I can cultivate the forgotten Dao again, but recovering those memories is impossible."

"That's…"

"It's not that serious…" Noticing Xia Ning Chang's horrified face, Su Mu laughed a little. "As someone who has lived for a long time, the memories I spent to create an Immortal Ascension Realm clone are equivalent to a few hours of a normal human's life…"

Although he said that, the amount of memories he destroyed to make the technique's backlash somewhat bearable was more than a hundred thousand years.

However, since most of them weren't important, it didn't matter that much.

But that was also why he stopped using that technique after some time. At higher realms, the consumption of memories simply became too much.

"What about the Dao Comprehension, then?"

"I didn't sacrifice one of my Main Daos… I cultivated thousands of Daos to various degrees, so sacrificing parts of them isn't something to be concerned about. That's why the clone never used the Asura Sword…"

Not to mention, the forbidden technique became useless at the Open Heaven Realm since at that stage, a Human Cultivator's strength came from their Universe World rather than internal cultivation.

Regardless of how much one sacrificed, it wouldn't be enough to clone an entire Universe World out of nothing.

"That particular clone didn't possess a soul, either, so it was immune to the Thunderbolt Beast King's Divine Soul attacks…"

"But if everything went so smoothly, what about the considerable price Brother Su talked about?"

"Well…" Su Mu thought about it for a few seconds, only to decide that it'd be better for Xia Ning Chang to witness it herself. "This is what happened..."

After a few seconds, he released his Immortal Ascension 1st Stage cultivation base, and Xia Ning Chang's eyes widened.

"It can't be…! Brother Su, your foundation…"

"Indeed… The result of using a Forbidden Technique and exerting strength impossible for my current self had a direct impact on my foundation as a cultivator… Which only escalated further because of the World Baptism…"

That was why despite surviving such an intense battle, his cultivation base never increased and remained stagnant.

His foundation was still better than most cultivators in similar realms, but compared to the perfect foundation created by his Secret Art, it simply paled in comparison.

"The Harem God's Cultivation Scripture can repair my foundation, so it's not a permanent thing. Although, it'll take at least half a century to do so… That was the considerable price I talked about…"

Not only would it decrease his overall fighting capabilities, but it would also increase the time he must spend on a certain realm to improve his foundation even further.

"You don't have to make a face like that..." Noticing the expression on Xia Ning Chang's face, Su Mu continued. "A century isn't even that long for cultivators. I've spent more time sitting cross-legged inside a cave than anything…"

The reason he called it a considerable price was that he'd need to change the progress he had in mind for his future—from his cultivation speed to the techniques he wanted to practice in this life.

"Why'd you go that far…?"

"To protect Sister Xia, of course…"

He couldn't let Yang Bai, someone he couldn't yet compete with, find out about Xia Ning Chang's Sacred Spirit Medicine Body.

If the Demon Lord could send three of the Six Evil Kings to collect Xiao Fu Sheng, it wouldn't be a stretch to believe that he might come himself if he knew about Xia Ning Chang's existence.

That wasn't a risk Su Mu was willing to take.

Not to mention, it'd be embarrassing if someone abducted one of his wives, and all he did was stand there.

"Brother Su…"

Xia Ning Chang held back her tears and hugged Su Mu once again.

However, before that emotional moment could further escalate into something interesting—

Knock!* Knock!*

Someone knocked on the door, and Xia Ning Chang separated from Su Mu instantly. While she had become bolder in showing her affection, she was still embarrassed to do it in front of others.

'No wonder this old man still hasn't found someone to be with… At least learn to read the room…'

Su Mu turned towards the door with a small smile, watching as it slid open and Meng Wuya walked inside.

"Master…!"

Xia Ning Chang greeted her master, and the latter nodded before turning towards Su Mu.

"I'm glad that you're doing well, Treasurer Meng…"

Meng Wuya probably sensed it when Su Mu released his cultivation base earlier.

"I see that you woke up…"

Unlike the smile on Su Mu's face, the old man stared at him with a profound expression.

'I thought the day would come a lot later, but it'd be weird if he didn't have some thoughts after witnessing that…'

Su Mu waited for the old man to continue, and moments later, he turned towards Xia Ning Chang.

"Chang'er, I have something to talk about with him…"

Xia Ning Chang understood what her master wanted, but before she could reply, Su Mu intervened.

"Sister Xia already knows what you want to ask, if not more… I don't mind her listening to this conversation."

"Very well…" Since that was the case, Meng Wuya didn't beat around the bush any longer. "You… Who are you?"

That was the only thing he wanted to know.

For the past week, Meng Wuya had been contemplating the techniques Su Mu used in the last battle, and he concluded that those techniques were too profound for even him to understand.

Even if Su Mu was the inheritor of a 3rd Order Saint, he couldn't possibly learn such techniques from his master—someone from the Tong Xuan Realm.

He doubted Su Mu's master's background was as simple as a mere 3rd Order Saint proficient in Alchemy and Spirit Arrays.

However, that didn't mean Meng Wuya trusted Su Mu any less. The brat not only fought alongside him when he could've run away, but he did so for his disciple.

Everyone held a few secrets, including Meng Wuya.

It was a question to see how much Su Mu trusted him.

"I didn't lie… I'm the inheritor of a 3rd Order Saint from the Tong Xuan Realm…"

'So he has no intentions of telling me the truth, huh…' Meng Wuya internally sighed after hearing Su Mu's response. He thought that the brat would have some trust in him by now, but it looked like he was mistaken. 'Forget it…'

"But that's not all…"

"What do you mean?"

"Old Man… Do you know the Great Demon God from the Tong Xuan Realm?"

"The Great Demon God?!" Meng Wuya's eyes widened at that name. "You mean... The progenitor of the Demon Race?"

"Indeed."

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{Brother Su, you have a way with words…}

{I didn't lie to Old Man Meng. I only told him part of the truth… There's a difference, Sister Xia…}

Su Mu smiled at Xia Ning Chang, who had no idea how to respond to his words.

Meng Wuya was already in disbelief as to how Su Mu was the inheritor of the 'Great Demon God,' a Saint King Realm Cultivator.

If he told him who he truly was and the status he held, along with how high the cultivation system went, the old man might completely lose it.

{The secret of my reincarnation is something I'm only willing to share with those closest to me…}

"The Medicine King's Valley's Lord and Elders requested an audience with you, brat. The cultivators who arrived from the Eight Great Families of the Central Capital also wanted to meet you…"

"Call the first group here. I have something to discuss with the Valley Lord, too."

Meng Wuya nodded and sent a telepathic message to Xiao Fu Sheng through his Divine Sense while Su Mu moved and sat on the bed's edge, with Xia Ning Chang sitting next to him.

'Let's see…'

While they waited for the alchemists to arrive, Su Mu summoned a piece of paper, a brush, and some ink from the Demon Mystic Tome and wrote a list of things on it.

These were the ingredients he'd require to refine the Asura Sword into a growth-type Artifact, along with the 7th Order Python Snake's Monster Core he collected at the Nether Mountains.

After that, the only thing he'd need to do was let the sword absorb an enormous amount of World Energy from a suitable Earth Vein to finish the process.

He originally planned to refine an Artifact Spirit for it, too, but with the Snake Python's Core, that was no longer necessary.

"Grandmaster Su…"

Xiao Fu Sheng entered the room and stared at Su Mu, whose entire upper body, from the neck down, was wrapped in bandages.

Following him, the Medicine King's Valley's Lord and Elders entered the room.

"So, what could the Valley Lord and Elders want from me?"

"Grandmaster Su." The Valley Lord stepped forward and fell to his knees, lowering his head. "Thank you for saving the Medicine King's Valley! If Grandmaster Su hadn't killed Tyrannical Force King and Thunderbolt Beast King, none of us here could've opposed them, and the legacy of our holy land might have ended in a tragedy!"

"Thank you!"

The elders followed his lead, falling to their knees and respectfully lowering their heads.

"Despite his superior alchemic skills, Grandmaster Su risked his life to protect our Medicine King's Valley! We are eternally grateful!"

"We are eternally grateful!"

"Hmm…"

Noticing that Xia Ning Chang was about to stand up, Su Mu sent her a telepathic message.

{You don't have to get up because of them, Sister Xia. You're not my servant, so in a meeting like this, you don't need to stand behind me.}

Xia Ning Chang looked hesitant, but Su Mu didn't mind, and he turned towards the Valley Lord instead.

"So that's how it is…"

"If there's something Grandmaster Su needs the Medicine King's Valley for, please feel free to ask me!"

Alchemists were strange creatures.

No one would ever imagine the Valley Lord and Elders of such a well-respected sect kneeling before a youngster because they know of his superior skills in alchemy.

"If that's the case, then I have no reason to be polite…" Su Mu released the sheet of ingredients, and it flew right into the Valley Lord's hands. "I need as many of these ingredients as you can collect…"

The Valley Lord skimmed through the list and nodded. "It might take a while since some of these ingredients are quite rare, but rest assured, I'll make sure that all of these are collected as soon as possible."

"Good."

'This brat's composure surprises me every time I see it…' Meng Wuya stared at Su Mu and Xia Ning Chang. 'He's sitting there comfortably while Chang'er is battling herself to stay here…'

"By the way, Grandmaster Su…"

"What is it?"

"The cultivators from the Eight Great Families wish to meet the hero who killed two Evil Kings by himself." The Valley Lord spoke. "They have been quite relentless about it. What should we do?"

"I'm not interested, but considering the things with Yang Bai..." Su Mu thought about it for a few seconds. "Call them here."

"Understood."

Soon, most elders left the room, and the Valley Lord called forth the cultivators from the Eight Great Families instead.

And…

"Valley Lord Chen, is the Medicine King's Valley looking down on the Right Great Families?"

"We asked to meet the hero who slayed two Evil Kings, not some brat at the Immortal Ascension 1st Stage!"

"Grandmaster Xiao, how could you lie to us like that?"

"This is unacceptable!"

Their reactions weren't that good.

"Now, now, everyone…" Su Mu interrupted their loud shouts by enhancing his voice with True Qi. "Why don't we talk like civilised people?"

"Silence, young man!"

"Don't interfere when your elders are talking!"

He smiled at their response.

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"So, do you still doubt that I was the one who killed Tyrannical Force King and Thunderbolt Beast King?"

"N-No…! Forgive us, Young Hero!"

"We had eyes but couldn't recognise Young Hero's strength and were fooled by his inferior cultivation base!"

Su Mu looked down at the two Immortal Ascension 5th and 6th Stage Cultivators with the Asura Sword in his hand, and the two trembled under his gaze.

From what he remembered, they were the cultivators sent by the Liu and Qiu Families, with the other six cultivators standing at a distance with pale faces.

"Does anybody else wish to test my strength?" He then turned towards the remaining six cultivators, and they all vigorously shook their heads, which made him smile. "Now that everyone is listening, let's introduce ourselves. I'm Su Mu, a disciple from the High Heaven Pavilion."

"High Heaven Pavilion?!"

"The Evil Sect that gave birth to the new Demon Lord?!"

Surprisingly enough, the name 'High Heaven Pavilion' surprised all cultivators from the Eight Great Families.

"The Demon Lord indeed came from the same place as me, but…" Su Mu narrowed his eyes at the Liu Family's cultivator. "An Evil Sect?"

"Eight Great Families have deemed High Heaven Pavilion as an Evil Sect which gave birth to the Demon Lord…"

Following his explanation, the Qiu Family's cultivator added. "Even at this moment, the Qiu Family's Young Lady, Qiu Yi Meng, is leading a delegation to attack the High Heaven Pavilion due to the Demon Lord's actions! She should arrive there any day now!"

"You seem rather pleased about your Young Lady's actions in bullying the weak…"

"Young Hero surely jests… The Young Lady is accompanied by the Bai Family, along with members of the Purple Fern Valley. Against the combined might of these forces, the High Heaven Pavilion cannot resist…!"

The Demon Lord having come from High Heaven Pavilion was such a big deal that the Eight Great Families getting involved wasn't out of Su Mu's calculation. After all, in the upcoming war against the Ash Grey Cloud Evil Land, all of them would be involved. However, the Bai Family and Purple Fern Valley tagging along with the Qiu Family was unexpected.

Their joining this punitive force was most likely because of how badly Su Mu defeated Bai Yun Feng and Fan Hong some time ago, which caused the forces behind them to lose face, so they had come specially to add insult to injury.

'Haah…' Su Mu internally sighed. 'I should've destroyed the Bai Family and Purple Fern Valley after returning to the Nether Mountains.'

He had delayed destroying them because they'd serve another purpose later on, but now, he was having doubts about letting them survive much longer.

"This is troublesome…"

He didn't have much attachment to the High Heaven Pavilion, but Su Yan's case was different.

Even if he warned her with the Harem God's Cultivation Scripture, Su Mu doubted Su Yan would simply leave without even trying to defend her home.

His body still needed some rest, and he still had a few things to do before leaving this place, so he couldn't travel such a long distance without any breaks in between.

As Su Mu thought about what to do next, a sudden shout came from the other side.

"Such injustice! The High Heaven Pavilion was the first to suffer from the Demon Lord's antics, with their Sect Master almost losing his life and suffering heavy losses! How could the Qiu Family bully our saviour's home sect at such times?! We refuse to stand for this!"

The one who spoke was none other than the Medicine King's Valley's Lord.

'Ah…' Su Mu glanced towards the old man who stood next to Xiao Fu Sheng. 'So that's how he wants to play this situation…'

"Valley Lord Chen… What are you—?!"

"Young Lord Su is our saviour who stood up to the Demon Lord's subordinates and protected the Medicine King's Valley! If the Qiu Family attacks the High Heaven Pavilion, no Alchemist belonging to the Medicine King's Valley would ever refine a single pill for them! Naturally, that also goes for the forces related to and under the Qiu Family, along with the Bai Family and Purple Fern Valley!"

Every cultivator from the Eight Great Families was shocked at the Valley Lord's words.

Even though each of those families had their alchemists, that wasn't the case for the many first and second-class forces under them.

If the Medicine King's Valley shunned the Qiu Family, their subordinated forces would slowly start leaving their sides, which was a detrimental factor in their influence and strength.

"Moreover, if an Alchemist not belonging to the Medicine King's Valley did so after today, they wouldn't be allowed to become a disciple of this place ever!"

The Qiu Family Cultivator's face paled as the Valley Lord's words concluded.

"V-Valley Lord Chen…! Does this mean the Medicine King's Valley support the High Heaven Pavilion, the Evil Sect which created the new Demon Lord?!"

"The Medicine King's Valley openly support Young Lord Su, the one who openly opposed the Demon Lord by killing two Evil Kings! If the Qiu Family doesn't stop its advances on the High Heaven Pavilion, then don't expect us to be polite!"

"B-But our Young Lady has already left the family to—!"

The Qiu Family Cultivator's words couldn't even finish before Valley Lord Chen interrupted. "Then scram to the Qiu Family and pass my exact words to them!"

The Qiu Family's subordinate didn't wait long and quickly left the place, leaving everyone present baffled.

While that happened, Su Mu turned towards Xia Ning Chang, who stood along with Meng Wuya and Dong Qing Yan, before sending her a telepathic message.

{This is the kind of influence Alchemists have on the world, Sister Xia. You can have far greater influence than this, so don't look down on your alchemic skills…}

Following the Qiu Family Cultivator's |departure, the others from the Eight Great Families left in a hurry, too.

"Grandmaster Su…"

"You can keep the pill I refined earlier, Valley Lord Chen. I won't take it with me…"

"Ahaha…" Valley Lord Chen laughed at Su Mu's words, trying to hide his embarrassment at how easily his intentions were discovered. "That's not why I helped Grandmaster Su…"

"We all live for collecting benefits, so there's no need to be ashamed. The pill wasn't that important for me…"

"The Medicine King's Valley would never forget Grandmaster Su's generosity!"

"Just make sure to collect the ingredients I asked for…" With that settled, Su Mu fixed his robes. "I'll be back in a while..."

"Where are you going?"

Su Mu smiled at Meng Wuya's words. "To visit the Beguiling Demon Queen, where else?"

When Shan Qing Luo tried to escape the World Baptism Su Mu created, Meng Wuya easily caught up to her, and after noticing what happened to her companions, she surrendered without resistance as long as they allowed her to live.

Currently, she was trapped inside Meng Wuya's Saint Grade Palace Artifact—a place she couldn't escape from by herself.

"Why do you want to see her?"

"Well…"

Su Mu wanted to collect some information from Shan Qing Luo about the Ash Grey Cloud Evil Land and Yang Bai, but telling that to the old man would be boring, so—

"Isn't that obvious?"

He made a circle with his left index finger and thumb before passing his right middle finger through it, moving it back and forth.

Meng Wuya's face turned red in anger.

"You shameless brat…!"

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