My experience of grinding in another world

Chapter 600 Disguise
buzzing...

Inside the secret chamber of the Water-Avoiding Shuttle, the Milky Way compass floating in mid-air vibrates continuously.

Chen Mu listened intently for a long time, then let out a long sigh: "Finally, I made it."

The regular vibrations of the Milky Way compass are the secret sound transmission technique of the Goose-Sheep Path.

Not long after the Pingning Water-Avoiding Shuttle arrived at the outer perimeter of the Tianhe Water Palace, the Tianhe Compass received information left behind by this secret technique.

The message indicated that the Goose-Sheep Path fleet had arrived at the Heavenly River Water Mansion ahead of schedule and would wait for a month. Those who received the message only needed to enter the Loach-Dragon Fire Path to rendezvous with the fleet.

"How about we set off now?" Lei Hong suggested excitedly. "More than twenty days ago, the Dao Lord led his fleet into the Qiulong Fire Path. If we go too late, we might miss the departure time."

"No rush," Chen Mu shook his head.

"There are still many days left until the January deadline, we still have time."

“Besides, our water-repelling shuttle also needs to be disguised and modified.” Chen Mu narrowed his eyes.

Without modification, it's not easy to conceal one's existence.

……

Chen Mu acted swiftly, hovering the Pingning Water-Avoiding Shuttle far away at the outer edge of the Tianhe Water Mansion, and immediately began to take action.

He first took out the Extinction Stones that were scattered in various places.

This thing is too good at concealing one's presence; if we keep it, outsiders will immediately notice something's wrong.

Then he climbed up and down to modify the water-avoiding shuttle method.

He was an expert in the construction of water-avoiding shuttles and knew the key locations of each part.

He completed all the planned renovations in just one day.

Late at night, in a secret room of the dojo.

Chen Mu handed Lei Cheng a jade tablet covered with intricate Chinese characters: "This is a new method for controlling the water-avoiding shuttle. You must use this method to control the water-avoiding shuttle and make several rotations."

Lei Cheng carefully examined the jade tablet for a moment, then hesitated, "Is this......"

“Yes, these operations will damage the water-repelling shuttle.” Chen Mu nodded. “But with your skill in lightning magic, if you could really control the water-repelling shuttle here, you should have caused similar damage to it.”

With the Kui Niu Drum destroyed, the only way to control the Water-Avoiding Shuttle is through the Qi Refiner's own abilities.

Chen Mu possesses the Five Thunder Treasure Scroll and the Mountain-Carrying Scripture, and can transform into a human-shaped Kui Niu Drum to freely control the Water-Avoiding Shuttle, but Lei Cheng cannot.

The contents recorded on the jade tablet are a unique method that Chen Mu discovered over half a month by using the perfected level water-avoiding shuttle crafting technique and combining it with the degree of damage to the Kui Niu drum.

Using this method, Lei Cheng can violently activate the Water-Avoiding Shuttle spell, gaining the ability to control the Water-Avoiding Shuttle, but the Water-Avoiding Shuttle spell will be severely damaged.

His transformation throughout the day was a deliberate act of violating legal prohibitions and fabricating similar signs of damage.

In this way, it becomes reasonable for Lei Cheng to arrive at the Heavenly River Water Mansion by piloting the broken water-avoiding shuttle.

This also conveniently conceals the existence of his human-shaped Kui-niu drum.

……

Two days later.

To the south of the Heavenly River Water Palace, the enormous gate of the Water Palace resembles a narrow strip of sky.

The walls on both sides are smooth and straight, like cliffs.

A water-repelling shuttle, occasionally emitting flashes of lightning and resembling a short-circuited, broken machine, was slowly drifting into the water palace.

Before long, the Pingning water-avoiding shuttle crossed the gate and entered the interior of the water palace.

In the dim light, a vast city that seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see appeared before them.

In the dim light of the fluorescent bath, the wide streets, the neat buildings, and the pillars that stretched straight to the top, like skyscrapers from a previous life, came into view.

But this vast water palace was now filled with river water, and there was no one around.

"Is this really the Heavenly River Water Palace?"

"What about the prohibition of water-blocking laws?"

"The Heavenly River Water Palace has existed for hundreds or thousands of years, yet it has been submerged..."

"A tremendous change has indeed occurred in Yunzhou..."

The scene before them caused everyone inside the water-avoiding shuttle to change color.

Although he had already used the Zhu Yu magic sword to explore the scene inside the Water Mansion, Chen Mu still couldn't help but feel a chill when he actually saw the Heavenly River Water Mansion completely submerged.

This was the second Tianhe Water Palace he knew of that had been submerged.

He had only heard about the collapse of the previous water palace from others. But this one, he had witnessed with his own eyes. "This Yunzhou is indeed no longer a place to stay."

……

At the center of the Water Palace lies a massive, bottomless pit, resembling a sinkhole. The entrance to the Dragonfire Path is located within it.

The pit was now filled with river water, with bubbles of all sizes constantly rising, and a faint red glow appearing at the bottom.

"Legend has it that thousands of years ago, a certain master of the Heavenly River Water Palace wanted to use the earth's fire to cultivate the Scripture of Eel Transformation into Dragon, so he burrowed underground from the center of the Water Palace."

"He cultivated while searching for a suitable environment. When he finally mastered the true form of the black dragon and emerged from the ground, he found that he had already crossed 100,000 mountains."

"After that, this Loach Dragon Fire Path came into being." As the water-avoiding shuttle slowly sank, Lei Hong enthusiastically explained the related rumors to Chen Mu.

"Have you figured out how to deal with your ancestor?" Chen Mu asked Lei Cheng.

"I've made up my mind," Lei Cheng nodded.

"Then keep this close to your body." Chen Mu handed Lei Cheng a palm-sized gray stone.

That was the Absolute Stone retrieved from the Water-Avoiding Shuttle, inside which he had stuffed a Crimson Feather Magic Sword.

As long as Lei Cheng keeps this magic sword on his person, he can use the Listening Technique to constantly monitor his surroundings.

"All the breath-repelling stones have been removed, and the water-repelling shuttles have been replaced with battle-damaged versions."

"The people inside the Water-Avoiding Shuttle have been kept in the dark and are unaware of my existence. The Lei brothers, who came forward to contact Elder Gao Xiu of the Goose and Sheep Path, were also intimidated beforehand."

As Chen Mu reviewed his recent arrangements, he felt increasingly relaxed and at ease.

"As long as nothing goes wrong when Lei Cheng meets and talks with Elder Goose Sheep, I will never be discovered!"

……

"Your ship harbors a cultivator who has mastered the Qi Condensation Realm." Qiu Jinwu calmly looked at Lei Cheng and spoke.

Chen Mu: “…”

No? So that's how it's been exposed?!
We've only just met and haven't even spoken yet, how did I give myself away?!
Seeing the scene transmitted back by the Divine Listening Technique, Chen Mu felt his scalp tingle.

He originally thought that the person who contacted Lei Cheng would be the Lei family patriarch, but he never expected that Dao Lord Qiu Jinwu would personally come forward.

Even more unexpectedly, upon their first meeting, Qiu Jinwu became certain that a Qi Condensation Refining cultivator was hiding inside the Pingning.

"A cultivator who has condensed his acupoints in the wild? No, right?" Lei Cheng's dull and honest face was full of confusion.

"No?" Qiu Jinwu frowned. "Without the help of a Qi Condensation Refining cultivator, how can you control the Water-Avoiding Shuttle?"

"It was indeed troublesome. Due to improper operation, the water-repelling shuttle almost disintegrated and fell apart," Lei Cheng explained with a look of shame.

From being ambushed to repairing the water-avoiding shuttle, and finally violently enforcing the law, the water-avoiding shuttle was steered in a destructive manner.

Lei Cheng spoke methodically, calmly, and honestly... nonsense.

Qiu Jinwu nodded repeatedly as he listened to Chen Mu's method of control being incorporated into his real-life experiences.

"I see." Akira said with a look of sudden realization.

I managed to get away with it.

Lei Cheng nodded in agreement.

Chen Mu also breathed a sigh of relief.

That last move was just a bluff; luckily, Lei Cheng's reaction was smooth and natural enough.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you," Akio sighed.

"It's my duty, it's not difficult." Lei Cheng bowed solemnly and clasped his hands in a fist salute.

Chen Mu watched with amusement through his ability to hear supernatural sounds.

Honest people are really good at lying; even a master of Daoji, Qiu Jinwu, couldn't see through Lei Cheng's deception.

But before he could be happy for long, he heard Qiu Jinwu praise him, "It must have been hard for you to come up with such a believable lie."

Chen Mu: “…”

"So, there really is a Qi Condensation cultivator hiding inside the Pingning, right?" Qiu Jinwu looked at Lei Cheng with certainty and spoke calmly.

No, how did you come up with that?!

Didn't you just suddenly realize and accept Lei Cheng's explanation?

Why have you changed your mind now?
Done!

(End of this chapter)