Ashen God
Chapter 365 - 364: Missile Bombardment

Chapter 365: Chapter 364: Missile Bombardment

For Zhou Muxi, who had previously defined this power as burst-like, admitting she had underestimated its scope seemed petty. A normal burst of force would typically dissipate after one or two occurrences, yet here was a burst output measured in minutes—a continuous, normalized power, she surmised.

This realization terrified her even more. After all, if she could only withstand this normalized ability for a couple of instances before meeting her demise, what was the point in fighting? Facing such adversaries would likely result in a quick, unclear death within seconds.

Thus, while confronting such a formidable and insane Awakened, Zhou Muxi tried her best to feign calm, simultaneously absorbing Yin Qi and cultivating while distractingly monitoring the other’s movements until they left. Only then did she dare open her eyes.

The reason she pretended to be cultivating was because Zhou Muxi felt that the other probably knew of her presence, as she could sense their gaze fixed on her location just as the neurotic Awakened was leaving the gravesite.

The brief moment Zhou Muxi waited to finally open her eyes, just as she was about to peek out of the gravesite to assess the situation around her, her spiritual sense abruptly spiked in alarm. Fortunately, her absorption of Yin Qi never ceased, so in response to this, she chose to immediately close her eyes and continue cultivating.

Suddenly, a whooshing noise broke through the air, followed by a loud thud as Zhang Yanhang landed solidly back on the cemetery ground. The impact was so great that his feet sunk deep into the soft soil.

"Could I have seen it wrong? Impossible. I clearly saw that guy seemed to have opened his eyes just now..."

Indeed, Zhang Yanhang had returned because, while using his Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Evil Skill to scan the vicinity in hopes of another serendipitous encounter, he caught sight of the odd person in the gravesite opening their eyes.

Zhang Yanhang thought that perhaps the strange individual was about to finish their cultivation, so he considered approaching to share insights and experiences regarding the Ashen World with another high-level Awakened. However, before he could get there, the individual in the gravesite had already closed their eyes again to continue cultivating.

Though uncertain of what exactly transpired, Zhou Muxi, drawing from her extensive experience watching TV dramas, guessed that hearing such words usually meant that the antagonist was about to start eliminating witnesses. Terrified, she began to cultivate with full concentration, daring not to let her attention wander again.

Observing Zhou Muxi cultivating so sincerely within the gravesite, Zhang Yanhang thought he probably shouldn’t disturb her, hence he quietly started heading back home.

Time passed unknowingly, and when Zhou Muxi, fully immersed in her cultivation, opened her eyes again, she could distinctly feel that the surroundings had reverted to their former silent tranquility, typical of a normal cemetery.

"If it’s a stakeout, it surely shouldn’t have been this lengthy, right? Now, the surroundings should have truly reverted to the safe state they were in before."

Since her spiritual sense did not set off any new alarms, Zhou Muxi, after two unsuccessful attempts at looking around earlier, finally sat up halfway out of the grave on her third try. She surveyed her surroundings—everything seemed as it had been when she first arrived.

The only difference was a set of deep footprints not far in front of her. At this moment, Zhou Muxi couldn’t help but acknowledge that having strength indeed allowed one to do whatever they wished. Merely loitering nearby had kept her on edge for such a lengthy period.

When the neurotic Awakened was nearby, unleashing power, Zhou Muxi felt as if she were peacefully at home, enjoying a meal and a soda, when suddenly a missile struck right next to her house.

Moreover, known to fall a hundred meters from the house with a blast radius of ninety meters, meant any slight deviation would result in the missile hitting her directly.

What’s more, a single strike wasn’t enough; it turned into a barrage, transforming what would typically be a precision-guided, short-range missile into something akin to indiscriminate rocket fire.

Who wouldn’t panic in such a situation? So, naturally, Zhou Muxi’s spiritual sense went haywire, causing frequent alerts that nearly drove her to neurasthenia.

However, every cloud has its silver lining. This bizarre encounter and the profound sense of helplessness it induced only hardened Zhou Muxi’s resolve to join the official ranks.

Only through this could she gain access to more cultivation resources from the Empire to expedite her Rank advancement to the Fourth Tier Earth Immortal, where the sky’s the limit, and one could traverse seas and soar freely.

Thinking this, Zhou Muxi no longer bothered to check her surroundings and reburied herself in the gravesite to resume her intense cultivation of absorbing Yin Qi.

...

Having left Beiling Mountain, Zhang Yanhang was leisurely strolling on the main road. Since sleepiness was slow in coming, he wasn’t particularly in a rush to return home—after all, without sufficient sleepiness, heading back now would still result in sleeplessness.

Zhang Yanhang hadn’t forgotten that his main objective was to get some sleep; therefore, he wanted to wander around nearby a bit longer to enhance his sleepiness before returning to Xingfuli District, which would likely increase his chances of falling asleep.

"Should I visit other mountains within Qin Island City for a stroll? It seems like Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures born in such environments might be more genuine than those from the urban areas, potentially offering even greater effects, especially from the other branches of the Lao Mountain Range."

Indeed, it’s worth noting that Lao Mountain, as one of the renowned mountains within the Empire, is actually a vast mountain range centered around Lao Ding, extending roughly in four directions, especially towards the northwest and southwest, forming the Jufeng, Sanbiao Mountain, Shimen Mountain, and Wushan branches.

Among these four branches of Lao Mountain Range, the Wushan branch, or the southwest branch, primarily extends within the urban area of Qin Island City, while the other three branches either extend into the suburbs or to various county-level cities under the jurisdiction of Qin Island City.