Mu Chen's consciousness drifted in a daze within the darkness. There was not a single ray of light here, and he, too, fell into a state of unconscious drifting, unaware of the passage of time.
He didn't know how long his hazy mind had been lost, when suddenly, strange fluctuations appeared in the darkness. In one spot within the gloom, a bizarre, dark black flame abruptly condensed and rose.
As the black flame condensed, it transformed into a gigantic black bird, which craned its neck and sang. Then, as if it had detected Mu Chen's drifting consciousness, the black bird let out a clear cry, transforming into a wisp of black flame, its eyes flashing with fierce light as it shot straight towards his consciousness.
"Ah!"
Mu Chen screamed in fright, his body reflexively jolting upright, his forehead covered in cold sweat, his eyes filled with terror, his heart pounding incessantly.
"Little Mu is awake?!"
"Young Master is awake!"
As Mu Chen's heart was gripped by fear from that dangerous scene, he suddenly heard joyful voices around him. Only then did he dazedly lift his head, realizing he was lying on a stretcher. Around him were Zhou Ye and Duan Wei, their faces beaming with joy as they looked at him.
"You're awake?"
Mu Feng also asked with a joyful voice. He stepped forward lightly, and seeing Mu Chen's body safe and sound, he let out a sigh of relief.
"Dad... what happened?"
Mu Chen rubbed his temples, seemingly having a headache.
"Before, you were hit by a flame when the Nine Nether Bird self-destructed nearby, and you've been unconscious until now. But luckily, it seems there's no problem."
Mu Feng seemed to have a heavy burden lifted from him. If anything had happened to Mu Chen, he truly didn't know how he would face such painful circumstances.
Mu Chen was startled to hear this, vaguely remembering that indeed, before he lost consciousness, a black flame had fallen directly onto his face.
"Where is the Nine Nether Bird? Is it dead?"
Mu Chen shook his head to clear it, and unconsciously asked.
"Yes."
Mu Feng nodded in confirmation, a look of regret on his face. After the Nine Nether Bird self-destructed, nothing was left. They had gained absolutely nothing. However, it didn't matter; those from the Liu Domain also had to return empty-handed. For the Mu Domain, it could be considered a successful campaign. After all, the goal of this operation, besides the Nine Nether Bird, was also to stop the Liu Domain.
Mu Chen also felt a bit regretful. It was a creature ranked 11th on the Myriad Beast Record's Earth Chart! It wasn't something you could just meet whenever you wanted. If he could refine its spirit essence, he truly didn't know how powerful it would become.
"We have now left the Black Nether Abyss and are on our way back to the Mu Domain."
Zhou Ye, walking beside him, said with a smile:
"This journey to the Black Nether Abyss, more or less, was thanks to Little Mu. Otherwise, I'm afraid we would have had difficulty stopping the Liu Domain, and even more difficulty witnessing that shocking scene."
"Hahahaha, that's right! The Domain Lord has an heir, truly something to celebrate."
Duan Wei also laughed in agreement. This journey to the Black Nether Abyss had made them look at Mu Chen with new eyes.
Mu Feng heard these words and unconsciously felt pleased. He suddenly waved his hand:
"The campaign is over. Upon returning, everyone must maintain high vigilance. The Liu Domain returning empty-handed will certainly harbor extreme resentment towards our Mu Domain. With their nature, I'm afraid they will seek revenge for any grievance."
Everyone heard this and unanimously agreed, then sped up. Although they were now out of the Black Nether Abyss, recalling the scene of heaven and earth collapsing, earth-shattering and near-death, made them all feel a chill in their hearts, eager to quickly leave that area.
Mu Chen sat on the stretcher, suddenly touching his head and turning to look at the distant Black Nether Abyss. For some reason, he always had a strange feeling, as if the Nine Netherbird… might not be dead after all.
Two days later, Mu Feng's group safely returned to the Mu Territory. Though weary from their journey, remembering the perilous situations they had faced, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They had, after all, made it back alive.
Mu Feng arranged for everyone to rest and recuperate. Mu Chen also returned to his room, feeling a headache and drowsiness. Clearly, the past few days had taken a toll on his body.
When Mu Chen awoke with a start from his deep sleep, it was already late. He looked out at the quiet night, slightly dazed for a moment, then stretched and sat up.
"It's time to cultivate."
Mu Chen chuckled softly, crossed his legs, and closed his eyes, quickly entering a state of cultivation. The air around him subtly fluctuated, and a wisp of spiritual energy from heaven and earth was drawn in, finally entering his body with Mu Chen's breath.
He cultivated for about an hour, then suddenly opened his eyes. In the pitch-black night, his dark pupils still revealed an uncontrollable mix of shock and joy.
This was because he clearly felt that the spiritual power in his Qi Sea had reached a state of fullness, indicating that he had attained the peak of the late-stage Spirit Movement Realm. This meant that before long, he could attempt to break through the bottleneck and advance to the Spirit Wheel Realm!
"I didn't expect it to be so fast."
Mu Chen was overjoyed. He had originally thought it would take at least another half a month. It seemed the perilous journey to the Black Nether Abyss had brought no small benefits.
After a while, he gradually calmed down and suppressed the joy in his heart. He clenched his hand, and an exquisite jade box appeared. Inside the box was a perfectly round, jade-green pill. This was the reward he had received from the training at the Northern Spirit Academy, the Spirit Nurturing Pill.
This pill was very helpful for those attempting to break through to the Spirit Wheel Realm. Mu Chen had saved it, waiting for the most opportune moment. And now was that time.
Mu Chen took out the jade-like pill, inhaled its faint scent that cleared his mind, then, without hesitation, opened his mouth and swallowed the Spirit Nurturing Pill.
The Spirit Nurturing Pill entered his mouth, then descended into his stomach, immediately transforming into surging spiritual power, spreading like a flood throughout Mu Chen's body.
Mu Chen tightly closed his eyes, circulated the Great Pagoda Art, refining the abundant spiritual power and continuously guiding it back to his Qi Sea.
The Qi Sea, receiving a large influx of powerful spiritual power, also underwent significant changes. The nebula-like spiritual power slowly contracted, making the spiritual power within him even more condensed, purer, and sharper.
To advance to the Spirit Wheel Realm required a vast amount of spiritual power. Fortunately, Mu Chen had the Spirit Nurturing Pill, which significantly reduced the trouble of this step. He stabilized his mind, neither rushing nor hesitating, refining the medicinal power of the spiritual pill at a steady, normal pace, channeling it into his Qi Sea.
In the Qi Sea, the mass of spiritual power, once the size of a palm, was now only as small as a chicken egg. But it began to become smoother, and the black color of the spiritual power grew increasingly profound.
The spiritual power was continuously compressed, and Mu Chen continuously channeled external spiritual power into his Qi Sea.
This process lasted for about ten minutes, until the chicken egg-sized mass was further compressed to the size of a pigeon egg, at which point it completely stopped.
Mu Chen sensed a change in his Qi Sea and his mind quickly delved into it. He then saw a pitch-black spiritual energy halo, slowly floating around the pigeon egg.
The volume of the spiritual energy halo was many times smaller than the previous mass of spiritual energy, but Mu Chen clearly felt the immense amount of spiritual energy it contained.
It was already far beyond the late stage of the Spiritual Movement Realm!
Mu Chen stared at the exquisite and beautiful spiritual energy halo, his heart filled with joy. He had broken through the Spiritual Movement Realm and truly entered the Spiritual Wheel Realm.
With this strength, he had also met the most basic requirements of the Five Great Academies.
Although he wasn't too surprised himself, the feeling of becoming stronger was still incredibly refreshing. Perhaps that person had far surpassed him in strength after completing the Spiritual Road, but so what?
I, Mu Chen, was not inferior to you all in the Spiritual Road, and it will be the same here in the Great Thousand World—I will not be outdone!
Mu Chen smiled, his handsome youthful face revealing the stubbornness and arrogance that had deeply ingrained itself into his bones.
With the successful condensation of the Spiritual Wheel, Mu Chen calmed down. Just as he was about to exit his body-exploring state, a rather familiar, clear sound suddenly echoed in his mind.
"Kwoork!"
The chirp wasn't overly loud, but it struck Mu Chen like a bolt of lightning. His body stiffened, and a ringing sound reverberated in his head.
"Boom!"
As that sound caused Mu Chen's mind to lose its ability to think, he suddenly felt an extremely ferocious fluctuation appear within him, rushing straight to his brain, as if it wanted to devour his consciousness alive!
Spirit essence devouring its master?!
This situation made the dazed Mu Chen turn cold, his eyes filled with terror.