"Cultivating in the Northern Spiritual Wilderness?"
Mu Chen was slightly startled when he heard this. The Northern Spiritual Wilderness was a dangerous place within the Northern Spiritual Realm. It was a vast territory infested with ferocious spiritual beasts. From time to time, exploration teams would venture inside to hunt spiritual beasts and search for rare resources and spiritual herbs. It could be considered a treasure trove, but of course, one needed sufficient strength to obtain those treasures. Otherwise, before even finding any treasure, one might lose their life.
Because the Northern Spiritual Wilderness was rich in resources, even Mu Chen's father would occasionally organize a team and personally enter it. Every time he returned, he would bring back stories of brutal and bloody battles.
"That's right! Every once in a while, the Heaven Division of the Northern Spiritual Academy organizes a training expedition to the Northern Spiritual Wilderness for its students. After all, only real combat can provide the best tempering."
Tang Qian'er nodded and smiled faintly.
"This training allows us to form two-person teams. In the end, the results will be evaluated, and those in the top three will receive rewards."
"Rewards? What kind of rewards?"
Mu Chen asked, raising his eyebrows in curiosity.
"I heard that this time, it's the Spirit Nurturing Pill."
Tang Qian'er said after a moment of thought.
"The Spirit Nurturing Pill?"
Mu Chen's mouth fell open in surprise. This spiritual pill was extremely beneficial to low-level cultivators like them. Its medicinal effects were gentle and left no side effects. With his current strength at the Mid-stage Spiritual Movement Stage, if he could consume one, he would quickly advance to the Late-stage Spiritual Movement Stage.
"Yeah. If I can get one Spirit Nurturing Pill, it should be just enough for me to break through to the Late-stage Spiritual Movement Stage, preparing me to step into the Spiritual Rotation Stage in the future."
Tang Qian'er said.
"How are the results evaluated?"
Mu Chen felt a surge of excitement. Clearly, the Spirit Nurturing Pill had piqued his interest.
"It's very simple. It's based on the number and rank of the spiritual beasts you hunt."
Tang Qian'er continued,
"Since all the students of the Heaven Division are allowed to participate, the competition will be fierce. That's why I planned to team up with you."
"I'm only at the Mid-stage Spiritual Movement Stage. Shouldn't you look for someone stronger to team up with? Besides, with Sister Qian'er's charm, no matter if it's the East, West, South, or North Branch, men would be lining up to team up with you like beggars begging for rice!"
Mu Chen teased with a laugh.
"You don't want to?"
Tang Qian'er snorted, waving the dark red jade slip in her hand threateningly.
"Hehe, I couldn't ask for more. But if we fail to get the Spirit Nurturing Pill when the time comes, don't blame me for dragging you down!"
Mu Chen smiled. He wasn't just being polite; if one were to scan the Northern Spiritual Academy for those at the Mid-stage Spiritual Movement Stage, there were plenty of candidates more suitable than him.
Tang Qian'er pondered for a moment, then suddenly smiled softly and said,
"It doesn't matter whether we get it or not. I believe that even without the spiritual pill, I can still reach the Spiritual Rotation Stage within a year."
Her slender fingers gently caressed the jade slip as her beautiful eyes darted over to look at Mu Chen.
"Besides, I don't like teaming up with anyone else."
"Since Sister Qian'er thinks so highly of me, I have no choice but to accompany you. Rest assured, even if I have to risk my life, I will do my absolute best to help you win that precious Spirit Nurturing Pill."
Mu Chen patted his chest with an air of grand heroism, though a playful grin still lingered on his face.
"What a smooth talker!"
Tang Qian'er blushed slightly and laughed, giving him a mock scolding.
"And what about this Spiritual Art?"
Mu Chen smiled, shifting his gaze to the jade slip resting in Tang Qian'er's fair hand.
"Just this once."
Tang Qian'er snorted, tightly clutching the Spiritual Art, and turned to walk out of the Spiritual Art Room. Seeing this, Mu Chen hurriedly followed her.
Tang Qian'er took the Spiritual Art to the registration counter at the entrance of the Spiritual Art Room. When the elderly administrator saw the dark red scroll, his eyes widened in surprise. He looked at Tang Qian'er, hesitating slightly. After all, the Senluo Death Seal had quite a notorious reputation, and he could not bear to see such a beautiful young girl harmed by this Spiritual Art.
Seeing the old man hesitate, Mu Chen grew anxious. He knew that Old Qin, the old man in charge of the Spiritual Art Room, was incredibly stubborn and old-fashioned. If you rubbed him the wrong way, you wouldn't even be able to take out a Low-Rank Common Class Spiritual Art. Although the old man looked like he had one foot in the grave, he possessed the strength of the late stage of the Spiritual Rotation Stage, just one step away from the Spirit Stage. Quite a few arrogant disciples with extraordinary talent had been thoroughly disciplined by him.
Fortunately, Tang Qian'er had her ways with old men like him. A pure, elegant smile blossomed on her beautiful face, and her sweet cry of "Grandpa Qin" instantly melted his heart. He happily signed the approval, handed the Senluo Death Seal to Tang Qian'er, and even gave her detailed instructions on how to use it with caution.
Mu Chen quietly followed Tang Qian'er out of the Spiritual Art Room. She gave him a smug smile and tossed the jade slip to him.
"I really have to thank you."
Mu Chen caught the jade slip and admired it. His dark eyes shone with clear delight as he smiled and thanked Tang Qian'er. It seemed that without her today, even if he had the proper qualifications, it would have been difficult to obtain this Spiritual Art from the stubborn old man Qin.
Tang Qian'er let out a clear laugh, then looked at the jade slip in his hand with a helpless expression.
"You must be careful. If you feel anything amiss, stop practicing immediately."
"Understood. I'll head back first."
Mu Chen gripped the jade slip tightly. Filled with anticipation, he waved goodbye to Tang Qian'er and quickly turned to leave.
Watching Mu Chen's retreating figure, the girl pouted her pretty little lips and muttered under her breath:
"That blockhead."
...
The cold moonlight poured down from the sky, casting clear beams of light into the quiet room. A youth sat cross-legged in silence, his eyes fixed intently on the dark red jade slip in his hand.
After staring at it for a long time, Mu Chen circulated his spiritual energy, and the surface of the jade slip began to flicker with a dark red glow.
As the light flared, information flooded out of the jade slip like a torrent, sweeping into Mu Chen's mind.
Mu Chen closed his eyes tightly, absorbing the cultivation method of the Senluo Death Seal. Only after a long moment did he slowly open his eyes again. Exhaling softly, his dark pupils were filled with deep contemplation.
Given the fearsome reputation of the Senluo Death Seal, Mu Chen did not dare to be careless. He went over the cultivation method in his mind repeatedly, and only after a long while did he finally begin to make his move.
Sitting cross-legged, Mu Chen brought his hands together, his fingers intertwining to form a strange seal. With a thought, dark spiritual energy surged from his body, swirling within his palms.
The dark spiritual energy resembled tiny black serpents. As Mu Chen's hand seals shifted, they twisted and writhed continuously in his palms, faintly forming a black glowing seal.
*Crack.*
Before the glowing seal could fully take shape, a soft cracking sound echoed. The dark spiritual energy shattered, proving that condensing the glowing seal was by no means an easy task.
Mu Chen paid no mind to his first failure. If he could succeed so easily, the Senluo Death Seal wouldn't have caught his interest in the first place.
Focusing his mind, Mu Chen began for the second time.
*Crack.*
Failure.
*Crack.*
Another failure.
Time flew by, but Mu Chen continued to practice tirelessly. His hands, which had been clumsy at forming seals at first, gradually became more adept, and the speed at which he condensed spiritual energy grew faster and faster.
His ten fingers danced like butterflies fluttering among flowers, twisting and changing rapidly. Dark spiritual energy writhed in his palm, and the black seal became much clearer, faintly emitting fluctuations.
Mu Chen stared intently at the black seal that was about to form, his mind extremely tense. Since he had started, he had failed countless times without a single success.
His fingers shifted once more, and a wisp of dark spiritual energy slipped into the black seal.
*Buzz!*
The black seal suddenly trembled, emitting a metallic ringing sound, before it began to shrink, transforming into a distinct black seal that gently etched itself into Mu Chen's palm.
The moment the black seal was etched into his palm, his entire body suddenly tensed. The next step was the most dangerous; the two seniors who had previously cultivated the Senluo Death Seal had their meridians ruptured at this exact step.
*Buzz!*
With the black seal etched into his palm, Mu Chen quickly felt an extremely violent fluctuation explode from it, surging wildly up through the meridians in his palm.
From the look of it, it seemed intent on destroying every meridian it passed through.
*Whoosh!*
However, Mu Chen was already prepared. The dark spiritual energy within his Spiritual Sea roared and surged out, violently colliding with that wild fluctuation.
Muffled explosions echoed inside him, feeling as if they were tearing his body apart.
The extraordinarily violent fluctuation of the Senluo Death Seal was like a wild beast, slamming into the dark spiritual energy that rushed out to block its path, attempting to tear it to shreds.
But this spiritual energy from the Great Pagoda Art was naturally not so easy to deal with.
Facing the impact of the violent force, the dark spiritual energy unleashed its full, overbearing nature, forcefully suppressing and crushing the impact.
*Rumble! Rumble!*
As the impacts continued, Mu Chen did not dare to relax, sweat pouring from his forehead. If he could not stop these impacts, he would likely suffer severe internal injuries.
Mu Chen summoned all the spiritual energy in his Spiritual Sea, resisting with everything he had. After a tense standoff that lasted for about ten minutes, the impacts finally began to subside.
When Mu Chen sensed that the impacts had completely vanished, his tense body suddenly went limp. Drenched in sweat, he gasped heavily for air.
However, despite his immense physical exhaustion, Mu Chen's eyes were filled with excitement. Trembling, he opened his right palm, which now held a dark, black seal pattern that radiated a dense, chilling aura.
"Did I succeed...?"
Mu Chen muttered softly as he stared at the black seal inscription in his palm. Feeling as if a heavy burden had been lifted, a smile spread across his face.