The change on the stage happened in the blink of an eye. By the time everyone regained their senses and looked closely, Liu Mubai had already appeared beside Liu Yang, his expression filled with astonishment. What was going on?
Mu Chen, however, paid no attention to Liu Mubai's stony face. The red light in his hand dissipated, revealing a fiery red bead the size of a longan. The surface of the bead was carved with complex, incomprehensible runes, and within it, a violent, tide-like spiritual energy surged.
"A Spirit Shattering Bead..."
Mu Chen caressed the smooth, fiery bead and smiled faintly, a trace of coldness in his smile. This Spirit Shattering Bead was not an item used for cultivation, but a spiritual artifact with immense destructive power. Experts who reached a certain level could compress powerful spiritual energy into this tiny bead. The user only needed to inject a small amount of spiritual energy to trigger it, which would unleash a terrifyingly powerful attack.
Crafting a Spirit Shattering Bead required a metal called Spirit Gold. The price of this metal was quite high, and crafting the bead required extremely precise control of spiritual energy, with an exceptionally high failure rate. Thus, Spirit Shattering Beads were quite rare and expensive. Judging by the density of the condensed spiritual energy in the Spirit Shattering Bead in Mu Chen's hand, throwing it at a Spirit Wheel Stage expert would cause significant injuries.
This Liu Yang was actually trying to kill him.
"Give it back to me!"
Liu Yang also snapped out of it at this moment, his face turning even paler. He knew he had violated the rules, and if he were punished, it wouldn't end well for him. Thus, he glared fiercely and reached out toward Mu Chen.
"Big brother, get it back! Don't let him keep the evidence..."
Hearing Liu Yang's words, a sharp light flickered in Liu Mubai's eyes. After all, their status was not low. If Mu Chen didn't have the evidence in hand, this matter could easily be swept under the rug.
"If you make another move, this Spirit Shattering Bead might just blow up in your face."
Just as Liu Mubai was about to make a move, Mu Chen chuckled. Pinching the Spirit Shattering Bead between his fingers, he uttered a chilling warning.
"This matter was due to Liu Yang's recklessness. Return the Spirit Shattering Bead to him. One should always leave a way out for others; it's better for everyone that way, isn't it?"
Liu Mubai looked at Mu Chen with a grave expression and spoke slowly.
Mu Chen smiled noncommittally.
"What is going on here?"
Instructor Mo had also leaped onto the stage, looking at the three of them as he barked in a low voice.
Seeing Instructor Mo's arrival, Liu Yang's face turned stark white. He then glared fiercely at Mu Chen, attempting to threaten him into silence.
But Mu Chen completely ignored his threat, raising the Spirit Shattering Bead for Instructor Mo to see.
Instructor Mo looked at the Spirit Shattering Bead in Mu Chen's hand, his face turning grim. He swept his gaze over to Liu Yang, his voice turning furious:
"You dared to use a Spirit Shattering Bead during a sparring match?"
"A Spirit Shattering Bead?"
Quite a few disciples around them gasped. Upon hearing the words "Spirit Shattering Bead," the rest of the crowd instantly erupted into an uproar.
"How shameless! He actually dared to bring out a Spirit Shattering Bead!"
"As expected of the Young Master of the number one territory in the Northern Spiritual Realm. What a generous hand, haha!"
...
Hearing the mixture of anger and contempt from the surroundings, Liu Yang's face became extremely unsightly. This time, he had truly disgraced himself.
Dean Xiao and Instructor Xi of the West Branch had also leaped onto the stage. Instructor Mo walked over and briefly explained the situation. Afterward, everyone saw Dean Xiao's expression turn grim.
"Dean, Liu Yang acted on a momentary impulse, but no harm was done. I hope you can show some leniency."
Seeing this, Liu Mubai also hurriedly spoke up.
"Is Senior Brother Liu implying that we only have a problem if I had actually been severely injured by his Spiritual Destruction Pearl?"
Mu Chen smiled mockingly.
Liu Mubai cast a cold glance at Mu Chen and said, "What do you want?"
"It's not about what I want. The Northern Spiritual Academy has its rules, so it is only right that we handle academy matters according to those rules," Mu Chen replied with a smile, showing absolutely no deference.
A cold light flashed in Liu Mubai's eyes. Just as he was about to speak, Principal Xiao waved a hand to stop him. Looking at the two teachers of the two branches, he asked, "How should we handle this matter?"
"According to the rules, Liu Yang will have his qualification for the upcoming promotion to the Heaven Class revoked," Teacher Mo replied after a moment of thought.
Liu Yang's face paled drastically. If he could not promote to the Heaven Class, he would lose the qualification to compete for a spot in the Five Great Academies. This would be a fatal blow to him.
"Isn't that a bit too harsh? The number of students in our academy who are qualified to compete for a spot in the Five Great Academies is already small to begin with..." Teacher Xi pondered for a moment, then lowered his voice. "Furthermore, if we do this, Liu Yang's father probably won't let the matter rest. Although our Northern Spiritual Academy has nothing to fear, offending the number one territory of the Northern Spiritual Realm would still bring no small amount of trouble."
"But Mu Chen's father is also the Territory Lord of the Mu Territory. If we just let this slide, I'm afraid the Mu Territory will harbor resentment as well," Teacher Mo countered.
Principal Xiao shook his head helplessly. If this had happened between two ordinary students, it wouldn't have caused such a headache. But these two were both young lords of their respective territories in the Northern Spiritual Realm; favoring either side would not end well.
"Haha, Mu Chen..." Principal Xiao suddenly looked at Mu Chen beside him and smiled warmly. "Regarding this matter, what do you say..."
Seeing Principal Xiao's smile, Mu Chen understood what the old man was getting at. He smiled back and said, "Principal, this matter was indeed a bit reckless on Liu Yang's part, but since I wasn't injured in any way, perhaps we can show some leniency..."
Hearing Mu Chen say this, not only was Principal Xiao stunned, but even Liu Yang was taken aback, clearly not expecting Mu Chen to let him off. However, when he saw the smile playing on the corner of Mu Chen's lips, a chill ran down his spine. Though this kid looked gentle on the outside, his methods were incredibly ruthless. Liu Yang still vividly remembered the desperate, life-risking moment just now when Mu Chen had snatched his Spiritual Destruction Pearl.
"However, he did violate the rules after all. How about this: I won't return this Spiritual Destruction Pearl, and we'll count it as his compensation. I won't pursue the matter any further." Mu Chen smiled faintly.
He knew Principal Xiao was in a difficult position, and dragging things out would bring no benefit. It was better to take this opportunity to gain some profit while simultaneously doing Principal Xiao and the others a favor.
"You?!" Hearing that Mu Chen wanted to pocket his Spiritual Destruction Pearl, Liu Yang's eyes instantly flared with rage as he glared at him. The Spiritual Destruction Pearl had been personally crafted by his father to serve as his life-saving trump card, and its value was extremely high.
"You don't want to? Then let's just handle this according to the rules," Mu Chen said, glancing at Liu Yang with a look of feigned helplessness.
The corner of Liu Yang's eye twitched. He could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger. Although the Spiritual Destruction Pearl was precious, it was nothing compared to a spot in the Five Great Academies.
"Haha, since you like the Spiritual Destruction Pearl so much, we'll just give it to you." Liu Mubai was naturally far more calculating than Liu Yang. He glanced at Mu Chen and smiled faintly.
Mu Chen glanced back at him. No matter how well Liu Mubai hid it, Mu Chen was well aware of his sinister nature. This guy was far superior to Liu Yang, making him a much bigger trouble.
"Since Mu Chen is not pressing the matter, we shall let this go. However, if Liu Yang commits another offense in the future, regardless of who your father is, our Northern Spiritual Academy will punish you according to our rules!"
Seeing that Mu Chen had settled the matter smoothly and relieved his headache, Principal Xiao felt a wave of relief. His gaze toward Mu Chen grew warmer and more appreciative, but his words to Liu Yang remained stern.
Liu Yang's face flushed red then turned pale, and he did not dare to say another word. Although the Northern Spiritual Academy remained neutral, they did not fear the Liu Territory in the slightest.
"Thank you, Principal."
Liu Mubai smiled, extending his hand toward Mu Chen once more, and said:
"And thank you, Junior Brother Mu Chen. Ah, since you will also be a student of the Heaven Branch from now on, I am quite interested in you. I hope we will have the opportunity to spar in the future."
A smile graced his handsome face, but deep within his eyes flickered a trace of dark, cold malice that went unnoticed by almost everyone.
"Senior Brother Liu must be joking."
Mu Chen looked at Liu Mubai. A sunny smile appeared on his slightly thin yet handsome face as he shook Liu Mubai's hand before quickly withdrawing it. Deep within his eyes, his gaze remained as calm as a still lake.
Liu Mubai was indeed outstanding and knew how to bide his time, but compared to those monsters in the Spiritual Road, his level of ruthlessness and decisiveness in striking was still a bit amateurish.
On the stage, the two shook hands amicably. Although both were smiling, a few sharp-eyed individuals could easily sense the fierce undercurrent of hostility beneath their calm exteriors.
"This Mu Chen... is truly something else, not backing down even an inch when facing Brother Liu."
The senior students of the West Branch's Heaven Class couldn't help but murmur upon seeing this. Setting aside Mu Chen's actual strength, just his sheer presence and courage when standing before Liu Mubai was enough to leave them speechless.
"With someone like him joining the Heaven Branch of the Northern Spiritual Academy, things are bound to get much more lively in the future..."
Hong Ling stroked her black hair, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the youth standing opposite Liu Mubai. His handsome and elegant temperament was completely different from years past; the sheer contrast, as vast as the distance between a shallow riverbed and the deep ocean floor, caused her heart to flutter slightly.
Unbeknownst to her, the boy she had once ignored and dismissed had now become this outstanding.
With Liu Yang's matter settled, Principal Xiao announced the results of this academy competition. Naturally, the East Branch erupted in a storm of cheers and boasts. Mu Chen, Liu Yang, and Tan Qingshan, as Earth Branch students who had broken through to the Spiritual Movement Stage, successfully advanced to the Heaven Branch.
Seeing that the academy competition had concluded, Mu Chen stretched his back. The Five Great Academies were now one step closer. The unresolved grudges of the Spiritual Road would finally be settled there.
Mu Chen raised his head, looking up at the deep blue horizon, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
Ji Xuan... The time is drawing near. We should have a truly satisfying battle then.