Mu Chen felt a surge of joy in his heart. This sudden, unexpected breakthrough naturally made him ecstatic. He had originally thought that to break through to the Foundation Stage of the Great Pagoda Art, he would need at least another ten days of cultivation...
The excitement lingered in Mu Chen's heart for a long while before gradually subsiding. Not daring to delay, he quickly focused his mind to carefully sense this wondrous state.
Within his Spiritual Sea, the dark spiritual energy was boiling. Amidst this churning space, Mu Chen could clearly feel the density of his spiritual energy rapidly increasing. He could also sense a powerful suction force erupting from his body, greedily devouring the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Refined by the Great Pagoda Art, it transformed into dark streams of spiritual energy that surged fiercely into his Spiritual Sea.
The comfortable sensation of his spiritual energy rapidly strengthening within his Spiritual Sea quickly spread throughout Mu Chen's entire body.
While the breakthrough of his Spiritual Art created violent fluctuations inside Mu Chen, the outside world was also thrown into a commotion because of those fluctuations. Everyone could clearly feel the powerful suction force erupting from within Mu Chen's body, aggressively plundering the spiritual energy in the cultivation field like a bandit.
This commotion instantly caught everyone's attention, and countless astonished gazes turned toward Mu Chen.
"What's going on?"
"It's that guy Mu Chen. What is he doing?"
"Such overbearing absorption! How can he absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth so violently? Isn't he afraid of bursting?"
...
Shocked whispers and chatter broke out. Everyone's faces were filled with doubt and astonishment; clearly, this was the first time any of them had witnessed such a situation.
"Mu Chen."
Tang Qian'er also opened her eyes, calling out to Mu Chen in worry.
"No need to panic."
Instructor Mo's calm voice rang out, causing the whispering to die down and bringing a sense of calm to most of the students. Instructor Mo turned his gaze toward Mu Chen, frowning slightly as he said, "He has simply made a breakthrough in his Spiritual Art cultivation. It is nothing to worry about."
"A breakthrough in his Spiritual Art cultivation?"
The crowd of students was stunned once again. For a breakthrough in a Spiritual Art to create such a massive commotion, just what rank of Spiritual Art was he practicing? Judging by this scale, it had to be at least Mid-Rank Spiritual Tier, right?
Jiang Li and Teng Yong also looked at the terrifying commotion Mu Chen was causing in shock, clear dread showing in their eyes. Although both of them were also at the mid-stage of the Spiritual Movement Stage, they felt an immense pressure radiating from Mu Chen.
"Hmph, it seems his father went to great lengths to prepare a valuable Spiritual Art for him," Luo Tong snorted coldly, his words dripping with jealousy and resentment. The Spiritual Art he practiced was not weak either—a Low-Rank Spiritual Tier. But compared to the one Mu Chen was practicing, there seemed to be a significant gap.
This made Luo Tong extremely furious. Compared to Mu Chen, he seemed to be inferior in every aspect, except for... age.
Instructor Mo stared intently at Mu Chen, who was greedily absorbing the spiritual energy, and couldn't help but sigh inwardly. He also felt that the Spiritual Art Mu Chen practiced was extraordinary. However, he was not as shallow as Luo Tong; the higher the grade of a Spiritual Art, the harder it was to practice, and breaking through was even more difficult and arduous. Mu Chen had been practicing this Spiritual Art for less than a month, yet he was already able to make a breakthrough. This talent... was quite formidable.
"He truly deserves his qualification for the Spiritual Road."
Instructor Mo smiled. Although Mu Chen had wasted a year in the Spiritual Road, with his talent, catching up was not impossible. It seemed that Liu Mubai of the West Academy had finally met his match.
Mu Chen, of course, had no way of knowing about the commotion in the training ground. He was still deeply immersed in the wondrous sensation of his Spiritual Art breaking through. Ambient spiritual energy surged into his body, transforming into powerful spiritual power that poured into his Qi Sea. This feeling of being filled to the brim made Mu Chen feel incredibly comfortable, a smile tugging at his lips.
Mu Chen's consciousness was submerged in his Qi Sea. Where there had previously been only faint ripples of spiritual power, it had now grown to a respectable size, swirling together like a dark, mysterious, and unpredictable nebula.
Above the stream of spiritual power, a sheet of black paper floated quietly. It allowed the spiritual power to wrap around it, remaining completely motionless, like a dead object.
*Hum.*
Suddenly, a fleeting sound from the depths of his soul caused his heart to tremble. Focusing his mind to scan his body, he suddenly discovered dark, obscure black spots within himself...
*Whoosh.*
The spiritual power in his Qi Sea seemed to be drawn out, actively leaving the Qi Sea to circulate through his meridians. As the spiritual power passed through those black spots, Mu Chen felt a faint sensation of his spiritual power being absorbed by them.
"What is this?"
This sudden development startled Mu Chen. These black spots had appeared out of nowhere and seemed completely beyond his control; he could not even probe them.
"Is it because of the Great Pagoda Art?"
Thoughts raced through his mind, and a spark of realization flashed. This anomaly was undoubtedly related to the Foundation Stage of the Great Pagoda Art.
"These black spots..."
His consciousness swept over the mysterious black spots scattered throughout his body. After a long while, his heart suddenly shook violently. He realized that these numerous, interconnected black spots looked somewhat like... Spiritual Pulses?
Spiritual Pulses?
The term surfaced in his mind, causing waves of shock to crash through his heart. He knew very well that he did not possess a Spiritual Pulse; he had never even had the lowest Human-Class Spiritual Pulse. He had tried to verify it before, but those black spots just sat there passively. What on earth were they?
While his heart was still filled with doubt and shock, the black spots quietly faded away. No matter how Mu Chen tried to sense them, he could not find a single trace, as if they had never existed.
"How can this be..."
Mu Chen muttered to himself, utterly bewildered. After carefully analyzing it again, he was certain that what had just happened was absolutely not an illusion. Deep within his body, something seemed to be hidden, and this deeply concealed secret appeared to be connected to the Great Pagoda Art.
"The Great Pagoda Art... Mother?"
Mu Chen was shaken. The Great Pagoda Art had been left behind by his mother. If so, this matter was inevitably related to her. There was definitely something deeply hidden inside his body by his mother.
"Why would Mother do that?"
Mu Chen pondered for a long time but could not find an answer. His memories of his mother were too scarce, existing only as a vague, gentle silhouette. Even so, a faint resonance deep within his bloodline assured him that his mother would never harm him.
With that thought, Mu Chen gradually calmed down. Even if he could not figure it out, it was enough to believe that there was no danger.
As for the rest, he would ask his old man the next time he went home. He had a feeling his father knew something about this but was keeping it from him for now.
Having cleared his mind, Mu Chen withdrew his consciousness, gathered the dark spiritual power back into his Qi Sea, exited his cultivation state, and slowly opened his eyes.
The moment he opened his eyes, Mu Chen felt a wave of strangeness. The gazes of everyone around him were focused on him, catching him off guard.
"What's wrong?"
Mu Chen looked at the crowd staring at him in surprise and asked in confusion.
The surrounding disciples looked at him with strange expressions when they heard his question. *You caused such a massive commotion, and you're still asking us what's wrong?*
"Mu Chen, are you alright?"
Tang Qian'er asked worriedly, briefly explaining what had just happened.
"I'm fine."
Only then did Mu Chen snap out of it. He smiled and shook his head. His breakthrough in the Spiritual Art today was likely related to the Spiritual Convergence Array. Normally, building a foundation would have taken quite some time. A Grade 3 Spiritual Convergence Array was indeed useful.
"Today's cultivation class is over. You may arrange your own time from now on."
Seeing Mu Chen wake up, Teacher Mo nodded and announced to everyone.
"Yes, Teacher!"
The disciples replied respectfully.
Teacher Mo waved his hand and, without lingering, slowly strolled out.
As soon as Teacher Mo left, the tense atmosphere of cultivation on the plaza relaxed. Laughter and chatter broke out again, though quite a few people still cast occasional glances toward Mu Chen.
Perhaps it was because the commotion he had caused earlier was too shocking. Although Teacher Mo had left, Luo Tong and Jiang Li did not try to cause trouble for him again. Instead, they cast wary glances at him and walked away.
"Let's go too."
Mu Chen stood up, dusted off his hands, and said.
"Where to?"
Tang Qian'er asked.
"To the Spiritual Art Hall."
Mu Chen looked toward the side of the training grounds and smiled.
"I'm quite interested in a few offensive Spiritual Arts over there. Now, I finally have the qualifications to practice them..."