Northern Spiritual City was a city built because of the Northern Spiritual Academy. This city maintained a neutral stance just like the academy, and its rulers were, quite obviously, the Northern Spiritual Academy itself.
Because the conflicts within the Northern Spiritual Realm did not reach this place, Northern Spiritual City was quite prosperous. Aside from the capital cities of the major territories, this was considered the place that everyone in the Northern Spiritual Realm yearned for the most.
Since Northern Spiritual City was built for the Northern Spiritual Academy, it was considered the world of the academy's students. Within this city, no one dared to provoke a student of the Northern Spiritual Academy. Setting aside the academy's lofty status, the students training here mostly had some sort of backing. Among them, there was no shortage of children of the Territory Lords. If one were to offend these youths, the price to pay would surely not be small.
…
When Mu Chen stepped out of the Spiritual Teleportation Array, he was immediately greeted by the bustling, prosperous sights of the city. He gently rubbed his temples to soothe a slight dizziness caused by the teleportation, then turned back to glance at the array behind him.
Setting up this kind of Spiritual Teleportation Array was extremely complicated. In the entire Northern Spiritual Realm, only a few major cities possessed the resources to construct one, and the capability of the Northern Spiritual Academy obviously ranked among them.
Mu Chen stepped away from the Spiritual Teleportation Array and navigated through the bustling streets with practiced ease, heading straight toward the Northern Spiritual Academy within the city.
Numerous shops lined both sides of the street, with countless Spiritual Arts on sale, accompanied by the constant shouting of vendors calling out to customers. However, Mu Chen did not stop. After all, his father was one of the nine Territory Lords of the Northern Spiritual Realm, and the Spiritual Arts his father possessed were by no means ordinary, so he had no interest in the ones sold here.
After passing through several streets, the majestic Northern Spiritual Academy finally came into view. The streets were crowded with students; young boys and girls walked in groups of three or five, their occasional melodious laughter filling the air with a vibrant, youthful energy.
From time to time, passersby would look at Mu Chen. A few beautiful young girls cast curious, shy glances at him, as he was clearly quite famous within the Northern Spiritual Academy.
Aside from everything else, the mere fact that he had once qualified for the Spiritual Road was enough to shock everyone. After all, there was only a single spot allocated to the entire Northern Spiritual Realm.
Although they did not know why Mu Chen had been expelled after spending only a single year in the Spiritual Road, how could someone who had qualified for it in the first place possibly be ordinary?
Mu Chen paid no mind to those curious gazes, merely offering a calm, gentle smile in return. The youth had delicate features, a warm and bright smile, and dark eyes as deep as the night sky. Though he was of the same age as the other students, he possessed a distinct aura that set him apart from his peers.
It was precisely this unique aura, combined with his handsome face, that caused the cheeks of the girls stealing glances at him to flush slightly red.
Suddenly, a slight commotion broke out on the street ahead. A crowd of students quickly parted, and a few disheveled, dirt-faced figures came running out. Their eyes scanned the surroundings anxiously until, a moment later, a look of pleasant surprise suddenly lit up their faces.
"Brother Mu!" several delighted cries burst from their mouths.
"Luo Dong, what are you guys doing?" Mu Chen was slightly stunned to see these familiar faces. They were in the same class as him, and they usually got along quite well.
"Brother Mu, hurry and help Su Ling! He's being beaten up by Mu Yuan," the youth named Luo Dong said hurriedly.
"Mu Yuan?"
The surrounding students were startled when they heard this name. Mu Yuan, who was ranked second in the Earth Class of the Northern Spiritual Academy? How did Su Ling's group manage to provoke this guy, who was only slightly weaker than Liu Yang?
"What happened?" Mu Chen frowned. Su Ling was considered his best friend at the Northern Spiritual Academy.
"It's because that guy Mu Yuan was talking nonsense, saying that Brother Mu would suffer a miserable defeat tomorrow. When Su Ling heard that, he argued back a couple of times, and in the end, he was beaten by Mu Yuan. Those guys from the West Branch are just too arrogant..." Luo Dong said resentfully.
Mu Chen's lips twitched slightly. This caused Luo Dong, who was standing beside him, to panic. Because he knew Mu Chen well, he naturally knew that when Mu Chen acted like this, it meant he was truly angry.
"Lead the way," Mu Chen said.
"Huh?" Luo Dong and the others were startled, then quickly said, "Maybe we should find an instructor first, Brother Mu. There are a lot of people with Mu Yuan. Xue Dong, whom you defeated before, is there, and so is Xiao Kun, who is ranked sixth in the Earth Class..."
"It's fine, lead the way," Mu Chen smiled, lightly patting Luo Dong's shoulder.
Seeing Mu Chen smile, Luo Dong and the others looked at each other and gritted their teeth, nodding. At worst, they would just get beaten up when they got there, but in any case, they couldn't let the people from the West Branch look down on their East Branch as weaklings.
The group surrounding Mu Chen quickly departed, leaving behind several stunned students on the street. However, they quickly snapped out of it, their eyes burning with anticipation as they looked in the direction Mu Chen's group had gone, and they quickly followed.
Judging by Mu Chen's demeanor just now, did he intend to single-handedly take on three fierce figures ranked in the top ten of the Earth Class? This was a major event.
...
*Thud!*
A dull sound rang out as a figure was sent flying, his body dragging along the ground, leaving a long trail before finally coming to a halt.
"It seems like the people of the East Branch are a bit too confident these days. A nameless nobody dares to speak so loudly in front of me, Mu Yuan. I really don't know who gave you this kind of confidence."
A black-clothed youth sneered with his arms crossed over his chest, looking down at the dozen or so disheveled figures on the ground. Lying right at the front was Su Ling, who was currently gritting his teeth and glaring at the black-clothed youth.
Behind the black-clothed youth stood two other youths of similar age. They were also sneering, their eyes unable to hide their arrogance.
Surrounding them was a crowd of other students, but none of them dared to speak. Obviously, within the Northern Spiritual Academy, very few people dared to provoke these three.
"Hmph, Mu Yuan, don't get too ahead of yourself. If Brother Mu were here today, you would have already lost your title of being ranked second in the Earth Class," Su Ling snorted, speaking angrily.
"Mu Chen?" Mu Yuan frowned. One of the youths behind him snorted; this person was Xue Dong, who had previously lost to Mu Chen.
"That guy indeed has some skill, but I'm not afraid of him. I think that tomorrow, after the competition between the two branches is over, you people from the East Branch will have to know your place." Mu Yuan grinned and said, "Brother Liu will make him understand that he needs to behave himself in the future. Our West Branch is the strongest place in this Northern Spiritual Academy."
"I really can't wait to see the look on that guy's face when he is defeated," Xue Dong said with a cold laugh.
"But before that, it seems I'll have to teach you useless East Academy bunch a little lesson." Mu Yuan interlaced his fingers, cracking his knuckles with a crisp pop. With a menacing expression, he walked toward Su Ling and the others.
Seeing that Mu Yuan refused to let them off, their faces turned pale. Su Ling gritted his teeth and snarled, "I'll fight you to the death!"
"To the death!"
The other youths were also furious. With so many onlookers watching, doing nothing would be far too humiliating. Gritting their teeth, they scrambled to their feet and rushed at Mu Yuan.
"A bunch of trash who haven't even reached the Spiritual Movement Stage, yet you dare to fight me? You don't know your own limits." Mu Yuan sneered at the sight. He clenched his fists as a faint glow of Spiritual Energy flickered around them.
*Whoosh!*
Stomping his foot hard against the ground, he shot forward like an arrow, instantly appearing before the panicked Su Ling. With a cold sneer, he threw a punch, the sharp wind of his fist whistling straight toward Su Ling's face.
Su Ling had no time to block the incoming strike. He could only watch helplessly as the fist grew larger in his vision, before closing his eyes in resignation. He braced himself, thinking that this beating would probably keep him bedridden for days...
Ah...
As his eyes shut, he heard startled gasps erupt from the crowd. Then, a muffled thud sounded right in front of him. A shockwave rippled past, stinging the skin on his face, yet the expected pain never came.
He cautiously opened one eye and froze. A slender, fair hand had reached out from behind him, effortlessly stopping Mu Yuan's fierce punch in its tracks.
Su Ling quickly turned around and saw the gentle smile of the youth standing behind him.
"Brother Mu!" Su Ling cried out in joy.
"Not bad. You didn't embarrass our East Academy."
Mu Chen smiled at him, then turned a cold gaze toward Mu Yuan and his two companions, whose faces had completely changed color. "I was the one who gave them their confidence," he said calmly. "Do you have a problem with that?"