Chapter 86: Chapter 83: Startling Change
"This..." Lingyun was bewildered. If she rembered correctly, the teacher standing before her had once shalessly declared he would never take a disciple in his lifeti, claiming that the person worthy of being his student hadn’t even been born yet. But now he had one, and from the looks of it, he had shalessly pestered the boy into it. If that was the case, there was only one possibility: this young man nad Mu Chen possessed either imnse talent or so special power.
"Hehe, I have a junior brother now. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you." At this, Lingyun grinned, her pearly white teeth forming a perfect crescent. Her eyes, fixed on Mu Chen, were full of affection. For so reason, however, Mu Chen felt that her smile held not care, but a hidden blade.
Gulping hard, Mu Chen lowered his head and practically fled into the office. Di Cang burst out laughing. "You, still acting like this at your age. I wonder if you’ll ever get married. You’re almost thirty now, aren’t you...?"
"Shut up! I’m only eighteen this year!" Lingyun cut Di Cang off without a shred of courtesy, her face beet red.
Di Cang was speechless. ’Is she forever eighteen?’ After bantering with Lingyun for a little longer, Di Cang turned and closed the door. Mu Chen was watching Di Cang with a smile, and for once, Di Cang’s old face flushed. Lingyun hadn’t given him an ounce of face just now.
"Ahem." Di Cang cleared his throat. "I called you here today to tell you a few things."
"Oh? Please speak, Teacher." Mu Chen stood to the side. His long years with the Profound Old Ghost had taught him that when soone speaks to you with great seriousness, you must listen with all your heart.
Seeing Mu Chen’s earnest expression, Di Cang smiled. "Before I begin, I have a question for you. You and Mu Bingling aren’t biological siblings, are you?"
Mu Chen froze. "How did you know?"
Di Cang gave an awkward laugh. "I did a little digging. So, your next goal is to enter the Holy Hall, right?"
Mu Chen was flabbergasted. Di Cang sighed. "Don’t look at
like that. I was young once, too. But I have two pieces of news for you: one good, one bad. Which do you want to hear first?"
"The bad news," Mu Chen replied without a second thought.
"The bad news is, I will not let you enter the Holy Hall." Di Cang’s expression was grave, with no hint of a joke.
Mu Chen’s brow furrowed, but his calm deanor kept him from emotionally demanding why. Instead, he asked steadily, "Then what’s the good news?"
’He knows that since Di Cang is aware of my situation and understands my feelings, yet still delivers this news, the good news must be enough to convince
to stay.’
Seeing Mu Chen’s rationality, Di Cang was taken aback. He had assud anyone in this situation would jump up and demand to know why. To his surprise, he realized that the long speech he had prepared was now completely useless.
"You surprise
more and more. I’m truly curious who your mysterious Master is to have taught you to be so composed. It seems I’ve underestimated you. The good news is, although you cannot enter the Holy Hall, you can bring Mu Bingling out of it." Di Cang did not hold back his admiration.
Mu Chen started. "Bring her out? How?"
Di Cang’s lips curled into a wicked smirk. "One word! Snatch!"
"Snatch?" Mu Chen could feel the taphorical dark lines forming on his forehead. "Won’t I beco a wanted man in the academy?"
Di Cang chuckled. "Over the years, while the internal hierarchy of our Imperial Academy has been distinct, it doesn’t an we’ve completely written off the students in the outer circle. The first headmaster decreed that outer circle students can challenge Holy Hall students at any ti. As long as you defeat ten Holy Hall students in a row, you can make any request of the Holy Hall—provided, of course, it isn’t a personal attack or a violation of ethics and morality."
"But... that’s an impossible condition for any outer circle student to et."
"Indeed, it’s impossible. There’s no one in the outer circle who can defeat a Holy Hall student. Any random student from the Holy Hall could rank first in the outer circle. When the academy established this rule, it was rely an empty promise to the outer circle. But that was then. Now, my outer circle will issue a challenge to the Holy Hall. And this ti, we won’t just challenge them; we’ll win decisively. The one to issue that challenge will be you." As Di Cang spoke, the aura of a Venerable suddenly erupted from him.
"But why would our outer circle challenge the Holy Hall? Aren’t we all one body?" Mu Chen asked, looking at Di Cang in confusion.
Di Cang sneered. "One body? We may see the Holy Hall as part of the whole, but what do they see our outer circle as? A logistics crew? A supply depot? Now that they’ve grown strong, they think we’re dragging them down and want to split us off. Does that sound like one body to you?"
Mu Chen fell silent. He couldn’t understand why the Holy Hall would have such thoughts when the Empire was in peril. If it was truly as his teacher described, then the Holy Hall was a great hidden danger.
"If that’s really the case, then I’m fine with not joining the Holy Hall." ’What a joke,’ he thought. A schism within the academy was a terrible thing. He wasn’t a fool; he knew that if the outer circle and the Holy Hall split, the outer circle’s reputation would plumt to an unimaginable low.
Mu Chen’s answer pleased him, but it also made him sigh. "This is hard on you. I admit I have selfish reasons in this matter. Once you enter the Holy Hall, you would undoubtedly beco part of its very core. However, within this entire academy, my strength is the greatest, and my knowledge is the most extensive. If not for a certain incident, the deanship of the Holy Hall wouldn’t belong to soone else right now. I believe that if there’s anyone in this academy qualified to teach you, it is ."
Mu Chen was moved by his words. "Teacher, please rest assured. I know you’re doing this for my own good."
Di Cang nodded. "It’s good that you understand. Did you take the Ice Spirit Grass I gave you yesterday?"
"No. It was very late when I got back yesterday. I was afraid that consuming it would cause too much of a commotion and wake up Little Tiger and Qing Lei."
"In that case, go refine it in the secret chamber. Knowing Lingyun, she’s bound to give you all a nearly impossible mission next. The stronger you are, the higher your chances of completing it." As he spoke, Di Cang opened the secret chamber, and the vast space appeared before Mu Chen’s eyes once more.
"Go on in. No one will co in to disturb you. You can consu it without worry."
"Thank you, Teacher." Mu Chen was filled with gratitude. He felt no aversion to Di Cang, his new teacher. He knew Di Cang truly valued him.
He walked into the secret chamber, and the bookshelf outside slowly closed, leaving Mu Chen alone in the vast space. Finding a random spot, he sat down. With a flip of his palm, the Gengmu Jade Box appeared in his hand.
’A Seventh-Grade dicinal Herb... this is my second one. Am I truly a person of great fortune?’
Mu Chen gave a self-deprecating smile. He had already obtained two Seventh-Grade dicinal Herbs, sothing others might not acquire in their entire lifeti. He gently opened the lid. An extre chill, mingled with a faint dicinal fragrance, seeped out of the box. Though the fragrance was subtle, when Mu Chen took a light sniff, his spirits were instantly lifted, as if his mind had been swept clean. Faintly, Mu Chen even felt his Spiritual Power increase by a sliver...
’It has such an effect!’ Mu Chen couldn’t help but marvel. Peering through the icy mist, he saw the dicinal herb within. The herb had no stem, only two leaves, and each leaf bore a single ice-blue fruit. A faint, frosty mist swirled around the fruits, signaling to any observer that this was no ordinary treasure.
Lying on his side on the ground, Mu Chen began to circulate the Extre Spirit Chaos Technique. Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi flowed into his body. Before devouring the herb’s dicinal power, he had to activate all the ridians in his body. Streams of Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi coursed through him, and Mu Chen savored this feeling of fullness.
Once the warm-up was complete, Mu Chen didn’t bother to coat his hand with Primordial Power. Possessing the Extre Ice Attribute, he had no fear of any cold. He picked up the Ice Spirit Grass, gave it one last look, and swallowed it in a single gulp. Inside him, the White Dragon Cauldron began to operate on its own. In a re instant, the entire Ice Spirit Grass was refined into two drops of pure, blue liquid. The liquid radiated wisps of cold air as waves of pure Ice Attribute Elental Power echoed within the White Dragon Cauldron.
BZZZZ...
Suddenly, the cauldron’s body began to vibrate. Mu Chen frowned and rapidly circulated the Extre Spirit Chaos Technique. Deep within his Dantian, the Extre Ice Attribute Dantian erupted with a brilliant light. This light exuded the aura of a King, and the mont the two drops of pure blue liquid ca into contact with this extrely cold light, they instantly beca docile.
Mu Chen smiled faintly. In the face of the Extre Ice Attribute, all Ice Attribute beings would feel a fear that ca from the depths of their bloodline. Seeing that the Ice Spirit Grass had cald down, Mu Chen mobilized his Primordial Power to envelop one of the pure, ice-blue drops of liquid and slowly began to break it down. He would break off a small portion and let it flow into his body, repeating the process over and over. Tiny liquid particles continuously flowed along with his Primordial Power into every one of his ridians, allowing his physical body to constantly absorb them.
After absorbing the first drop completely, Mu Chen noticed no particular change. His Primordial Power hadn’t even increased by a single bit. His brows knitted together. ’Is it because of my Extre Ice Attribute? Did the dicinal herb have no effect at all?’
He shook his head, quickly dismissing the thought. His Extre Ice Attribute hadn’t changed his fundantal constitution; all dicinal herbs should still be effective on him. Using Introspection, he looked at the other ice-blue drop of liquid suspended inside the dicine Cauldron and paused. ’Don’t tell
I have to absorb both drops for the herb’s effects to manifest perfectly?’
With this in mind, Mu Chen used the sa thod to break down and absorb the second drop of blue liquid. The phenonon that followed completely confird his suspicions. The mont the very last particle of the ice-blue liquid was absorbed, all of Mu Chen’s ridians suddenly began to flash with light. Imdiately after, Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi from the surrounding space began to converge rapidly on him.
However, the Primordial Qi in the chamber was nowhere near enough for Mu Chen to absorb. In less than a few seconds, all the Primordial Qi in the entire space was devoured. Seeing that a feeling of emptiness was spreading through his body, Mu Chen began to panic. This was a golden opportunity for a breakthrough, and missing it due to a lack of Primordial Qi was the last thing he wanted.
But in that mont, his clear-headedness allowed him to calm down. With a flip of his wrist, a giant, blue Demon Core appeared in his hand. This Demon Core was none other than the one from the Exotic Beast that had accompanied the Extre Ice Attribute Spirit.
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