“So that two little brats have managed to ascend to such a stage that they could travel in space now!?”

Li Mu mused in a whirl of joy and surprise.

He thought of how Hua Xiangrong and Wang Shiyu had Void-breaking Realm before and how they had departed for the Ziwei Star Zone too. It felt strangely like a human’s soul’s rebirth; that no one could tell for sure where they would end up.

Fortunately, those little brats were found by Guo Yuqing following their advancement.

“Don’t worry, Brother. I’ve found them.”

Guo Yuqing’s message came.

Only then did Li Mu feel relaxed.

Guo Yuqing was hardly a novice in the warrior’s way and with enough experience of traveling through space on his belt, added with his recent solitary training, Li Mu was certain that he had progressed much. The two little kids could not have been any safer to be in his care.

Li Mu replied with a few more messages.

He had wanted to inform Guo Yuqing about the Dark Yellow Army and the Ghost Rally Star, but he changed his mind.

There was no telling who could be behind the management and administration of both the Immortal Net and the message token and hence Li Mu was afraid if the contents of his messages could be privy to these unknown parties.

Just like on Earth, any telecommunication service provider could easily, through technical and special means, intercept and gain access to any text or voice messages that any of its users have sent or received.

Li Mu knew that he needed to exercise more prudence.

Finally, he decided to just send Guo Yuqing a coordinate, the location of the Opposite Bank Star where Guo Yuqing could find a person called Shan Yunxiu.

The Dark Yellow Army has made plans to establish its headquarters at the Heavenly Land.

And the Opposite Bank Star would operate as a forward operating outpost.

Guo Yuqing or Qing Feng and Ming Yue would be setting off from the Heavenly Land and the assistance from a group as influential as the Dark Yellow Army could ensure the smoothness of whatever plans they have.

Li Mu finished his final transmission and breathed heavily.

It has been years since he last saw Qing Feng and Ming Yue; he missed them deeply.

It was they who had accompanied him during his most painful days at the Heavenly Land. They steadfastly stayed by his side like a true brother and sister.

“Let’s have a look at the two then once everything here is settled.”

He mused with a grin spreading across his face as he thought of them.

“Well, since there’s nothing much aside from training, I could use some recreation by roaming around Imperium Vulpes. I might find some souvenirs for those two little brats.”

Li Mu thought merrily.

Everything seemed to be progressing well.

In the following days, Li Mu accompanied Bi Yan around Imperium Vulpes. They walked everywhere, scouring for any reminders from her childhood that could point a way towards her parents.

So many years had passed since the little fox girl had sold herself that she could hardly remember where in this vast city her parents made their home. She just couldn’t remember.

Much has changed in this city that many of the buildings and the planning of the city has been altered throughout the years. All she could rely on were the little pickety bits of her recollections and some prominent landmarks for any clues.

But Imperium Vulpes really was too big a city for such a wild goose chase.

So big that it felt like all of Earth had been crammed into these walls.

A few days passed without any viable outcome.

At the same time, Li Mu had been on the lookout for the Lady of the Clouds that was purported to be Hua Xiangrong. But he has yet to make contact with the Dark Yellow Army informer here and that has stymied his efforts.

He could only entrust the search to Dongfang Piaoliang, the innkeeper.

“Don’t worry, sir. The Lady of the Clouds is a most conspicuous figure. You don’t know how many yearn for just one glimpse of her. You’ll be notified if we hear anything about her.”

The plump Dongfang Piaoliang flashed Li Mu a beefy grin – one that all men knew.

Li Mu turned around and left.

The innkeeper must have mistaken him as an avid fan of the Lady of the Clouds.

Who didn’t love beautiful ladies?

The first Heavenly Legend from the Brilliance Immortal Star Region wishing to woo the Lady of the Clouds. That must be what Dongfang Piaoliang was thinking about. Perhaps that was what people would expect from a hot-blooded young man.

Whether the first Heavenly Legend could compete with the little lordling of the Heavenly Deity Clan – that was an altogether different question.

It was public knowledge that the Lady of the Clouds was traveling alongside the future heir to the Heavenly Deity Clan. Naturally, everyone in the Star Zone believed that they were a couple and the young prince of the Heavenly Deity Clan was the most distinguished of young talents in this galaxy.

No amount of talent and flair could ever hope to compare with the prestige and position that the young prince of the Heavenly Deity Clan enjoyed.

Then again, Li Mu could care less about explaining himself to the innkeeper.

At least this would serve as a pretense for him to keep digging more news about Hua Xiangrong.

Li Mu trotted back to his cottage where he resumed his training.

He had just begun to realize a quaint function of his Third Eye’s Eye of Flaws technique.

During his battles with the junior chieftain of the Golden Condor Clan and the Little Heavenly Devil, he had defeated them with one single stroke. This was made only possible through the use of the Eye of Flaws technique which he employed during his observation of his foes prior to his showdown against them. The eye technique allowed him to find the weakness of their techniques and skills, allowing him to defeat them with just one blow.

Even so, increasing his mastery of both the Xiantian Skill and the Zhenwu Boxing took precedence.

Especially how he could feel the cultivation of his natural qi and his physical endurance enhancing exponentially every day since he had managed to break through the barriers that impeded him before.

He had achieved the early stages of the Soldier Realm.

His speed had reached an incredible rate, helped no less by the rich and vibrant natural energies that pervaded White Earth.

At present, in his Sea of Consciousness, the far-reaching bridge that spanned across the vast sea within him and connected his Mud-pill Palace and Paramita was ready. Magnificent and divine like a work of art fashioned by the hands of the gods, the length of the bridge sought as if to traverse over Time and Space.

The bridge of Man’s mortality.

And the spiritual self within him had reached the farthest end of the bridge with one of his feet already on the opposite bank. Paramita.

“To traverse the bridge to reach the bank of Paramita. That is the Soldier Realm. In the language of the warrior’s way across the galaxy, the Soldier Realm is also the Realm of Enlightenment (Paramita). With my spiritual self now reaching the opposite bank, I am at the early stage of the Soldier Realm.”

Li Mu had pored through the pages of countless tomes and manuscripts of varying sects and orders to know enough of the advancement he was experiencing right now.

With only one inspection of the spiritual domain inside himself, he immediately knew where he was.

He was at the General Realm before when he could defeat his foes with relative ease – he even vanquished enemies using his fists alone. But this was the Ziwei Star Zone and word of the tournament with the princess’s hand in marriage as the grand prize has attracted enough champions, mavens, and even other Heavenly Legends from every corner of the Star Zone to White Earth, and just being at the early stage of the Soldier Realm would never be enough.

Even if he could defeat General-Realm opponents, it would still not be enough.

Hence, increasing his powers remained the most pressing of all.

He mulled for a quiet moment then he swallowed the Heavenly Fox’s Blessing that the envoy had given him for his victory.

Li Mu had spent several days studying the pill using his Third Eye to make sure nothing was wrong before he consumed it.

The pill entered his mouth and as he swallowed it, he could feel a warm rush surging through every limb and every part of him.

For an entire night, Li Mu allowed his body to synthesize the nourishment of the pill.

The next morning.

Li Mu finished his training. His spiritual self, which formerly had one foot still on the divine bridge in the spiritual world inside him, now has both his feet squarely on the other side now. Paramita.

Full completion of the early stage of the Soldier Realm.

His powers had grown in one night.

He spent the whole day on another tour of Imperium Vulpes with Bi Yan, to see the life of the average citizen there and to witness more of the lofty glory of the civilization there as they shopped for souvenirs.

Halfway through his souvenir hunt for Qing Feng and Ming Yue, Li Mu realized that he had more friends at the Heavenly Land and hence he decided to get something for each of them.

What first began as simple shopping mutated into a rabid shopping spree.

But not to fear, Li Mu was now as rich as a king.

“Something tells me that my home is nearby,” Bi Yan said suddenly.

Li Mu stared at her.

“This mountain that reminds me of a monkey’s face… I’m sure I’ve seen it before…” Bi Yan pointed a finger at the jagged rock face of a mountain not far away. It was true. Upon closer inspection, it did really resemble a monkey’s face.

Bi Yan beamed with excitement.

After days of canvassing all across Imperium Vulpes, they had finally stumbled upon something real.

“Think harder. Look for more clues.”

Li Mu accompanied her as they wandered in the areas around the mountain.

The grin on Bi Yan’s face only grew broader.

She began to pick up more recollections of her childhood that helped her to identify places and scenes where she could recognize. The more they walked, the more the memory of her past which had been covered by the sands of Time slowly came into lucidity.

“Just in front.”

Tugging his arm, Bi Yan led him to the outside of a hamlet made of stone tenements.

The bustling streets of the busiest areas of Imperium Vulpes and the quietest and most modest parts of the great city formed an uncanny and delicate but yet congenial harmony.

And the little hamlet before them now was part of the most tranquil corners of Imperium Vulpes like a paradise tucked hidden away from the usual tumult and hubbub of the busiest squares and boulevards outside.

“This must be it! I remember these rock columns!”

Bi Yan squealed, so agitated that her eyes grew wet with tears.

At the front of the small village were a pair of chalk-white pillars of rock, weatherworn by time and weather enough that the ridges and grooves on their surfaces felt coarse to the touch, causing one of them, which was leaning on the other, looked more strangely obvious.

Li Mu and Bi Yan stepped through the arch and into the village.

Lo and behold, the villagers inside were all Green Foxes, just like Bi Yan.

By now, Bi Yan’s face was a mix of excitement, anticipation, and trepidation.

She had never looked so anxious before.

So many years had passed and she could not know how her home was and if her parents were still alive. She did not know if the money exchanged from trading away her own life and freedom had helped to cure the disease that was beleaguering her ailing father – or not.

They reached the end of the cobblestone alley.

A rickety little cottage made of bamboo sat inside a fenced compound came within sight.