Northern Spiritual Academy, Eastern Branch, Training Ground.
Today, the training ground seemed exceptionally lively. Almost all of the Heavenly Realm disciples from the Eastern Branch were present. This was because today was the day the Northern Spiritual Academy would announce the number of quotas for the Five Great Academies.
Disciples who came to train at the Northern Spiritual Academy almost all set their sights on a quota for the Five Great Academies. Years of arduous training were all for the Northern Spiritual Academy, which served as a stepping stone to enter the renowned Five Great Academies.
Mu Chen entered the training ground, and the clamor surprised him. Before him was a dense crowd, packed tightly, nothing but heads. Looking left and right, far and near, he saw only heads and hair, making his eyes dizzy and causing him to lick his lips. He hadn't expected the Heavenly Realm Eastern Branch to have so many disciples.
"Mu Chen, over here!"
A gentle female voice called out nearby. Mu Chen heard it and looked over. It was Tang Tian'er waving at him. Her beautiful face and charming smile captivated many male students around them.
Mu Chen smiled back at Tang Tian'er and walked over. After only a month apart, he hadn't expected the girl to become even more graceful and charming. Although she wore a loose black training outfit, her captivating curves were still visible.
"A month without seeing you, why do I feel like you've changed somehow?"
Tang Tian'er tilted her head, scrutinizing him from head to toe, surprised and curious. Mu Chen now possessed the strength of the Spiritual Wheel Realm. Although he didn't display it, sensitive girls could still instinctively perceive a slight change.
"I almost buried my body in the Black Underworld Abyss. It would be strange if I hadn't changed."
Mu Chen said with a smile.
"You also went to the Black Underworld Abyss? I heard my father say that your Mu Territory seemed to have a fierce fight with the Liu Territory in the Black Underworld Abyss. I didn't expect you to participate too?"
Tang Tian'er moved her delicate eyebrows, blinking her beautiful eyes.
Mu Chen shook his head. It seemed the commotion in the Black Underworld Abyss that day had spread quite far, even the Tang Territory had heard rumors. However, it seemed outsiders didn't know that the earth-shattering commotion wasn't caused by the Mu Territory or the Liu Territory, but by the evolution of the Nine Netherbird.
"Brother Mu!"
Suddenly, a loud call came. Looking up, he saw Mo Ling, Tan Qingshan, and a few others walking over with smiles. It seemed they had also immersed themselves in intense training this past month. All of them looked a bit more profound. Especially Mo Ling, Mu Chen could feel that the spiritual power in that guy's body was much more vigorous. He could break through to the Spiritual Wheel Realm at any moment; it probably wasn't far off.
"Hehe, Brother Mu. The Jade Spirit Fruit you gave me last time, thanks to it, I'll be entering the Spiritual Wheel Realm soon. At that time, I'm afraid I'll leave you far behind."
Mo Ling said with a teasing laugh.
Mu Chen glanced at him, only smiling in response, too lazy to strike at the poor fellow.
"I wonder how many quotas the Northern Spiritual Academy has this time. Last time there were only three, causing the two branches to fight tooth and nail."
Mo Ling licked his lips. When talking about the quotas, his eyes also sparkled, clearly coveting them greatly.
Mu Chen also nodded, intending to chat for a few sentences when he heard a commotion from behind him. Turning his head, he saw two people slowly walking in.
"Oh, it's Chen Fan and Huo Yun... those two finally decided to show up."
Mo Ling looked at the two, showing a slight surprise, and said in a low voice.
Mu Chen was also surprised to hear this, and he glanced at the two individuals. When he first entered this region, he had already heard of the reputation of these two strongest experts in the Eastern Courtyard, whose strength was only slightly inferior to Liu Mubai's. They rarely appeared in the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, so their names had never been on the ranking board.
"I heard those two have joined an exploration team and frequently hunt spiritual beasts," Mo Ling said.
Mu Chen nodded. No wonder he smelled a faint scent of blood on them. Moreover, their indifferent expressions were indeed vastly different from the naive disciples around them.
"They are probably about to break through to the Spiritual Wheel Stage," Mu Chen said softly, as he clearly felt that the spiritual power fluctuations within their bodies were even stronger than Mo Ling's. It seemed they were gradually condensing their spiritual wheels.
"So it's these two," Tang Tian'er looked at them, speaking quietly.
Mu Chen heard a slight peculiarity in her voice and couldn't help but look at her with a puzzled expression.
"Hehe, Brother Mu. Chen Fan and Huo Yun have known each other since childhood. They grew up competing with each other. After entering the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, they both took an interest in Tian'er, which also became a target for their rivalry. They often fought over her. However, she rejected them both every time, so those two decided to join an exploration team together to further temper themselves. They even declared that once they secured a spot in the Five Great Academies, they would return to pursue her," Mo Ling chuckled, answering the questions clearly visible on Mu Chen's face.
Mu Chen was surprised, then looked amusedly at Tang Tian'er's blushing face, whose eyes were also glancing at him. The beauty of the Eastern Courtyard indeed possessed considerable charm, one here, one there, hoho.
While Mu Chen was still listening to Mo Ling, Chen Fan and Huo Yun both looked over, specifically at Tang Tian'er beside him. Then, both suddenly smiled and quickly walked towards them.
Tang Tian'er saw them heading straight for her, helplessly pursed her lips, and hid behind Mu Chen.
Her small action made the two men愣, and their gazes unconsciously fell upon the young man who had just obscured her. Chen Fan seemed to be a bit better, but Huo Yun looked rather displeased.
"You must be Mu Chen, right? I've heard your name for a long time; finally, we meet today," Chen Fan greeted Mu Chen casually, smiling as he extended a friendly hand.
"A pleasure," Mu Chen returned a smile, briefly glanced at the other's hand, and lightly shook it.
As their hands touched, a spiritual power fluctuation silently appeared in Chen Fan's palm, and the veins on his arm bulged.
Mu Chen felt the strong pressure on his hand, but he only shook his head slightly, offering no resistance. He allowed Chen Fan to exert his force, yet his expression remained unchanged.
"Chen Fan, what are you doing!" Tang Tian'er had always been paying attention to Mu Chen. Seeing what was happening, she glared fiercely and shouted.
Chen Fan stared at the corner of Mu Chen's mouth, which seemed to carry a teasing smile, and his brows furrowed. This Mu Chen indeed had some skill.
"Haha, Tian'er, I just saw something I liked and felt a bit envious. Our Eastern Courtyard hasn't seen such a formidable character in a long time," Chen Fan retracted his hand, smiling as he replied to Tang Tian'er.
"Brother Mu Chen wouldn't mind such a trivial matter, would he?" Chen Fan turned back to look at Mu Chen.
"With that much strength, there's naturally no need to mind," Mu Chen also smiled in return.
"It's time for a spar," Huo Yun suggested.
"We'll talk about opportunities later."
Mu Chen was too lazy to argue, and didn't want to pay attention to the two of them, so he turned around and walked away. Tang Tian'er glared angrily at the two, then also stepped forward to follow.
"Tian'er isn't falling for this kid, is she? Are we going to fight each other until our heads are broken, only for someone else to take advantage?" Huo Yun said gloomily as he watched Tang Tian'er's retreating figure.
"That depends on whether he has the ability to make us give up." Chen Fan said, crossing his arms and looking at Mu Chen.
"Let's find an opportunity to hit him." Huo Yun said.
"Alright." Chen Fan smiled and nodded.
The training ground gradually filled with more disciples. About half an hour later, a familiar figure slowly entered. All the noise in the courtyard fell silent, and eager eyes focused on Master Mo.
Master Mo looked at the dense crowd of black-haired heads, smiled faintly, and without much unnecessary talk, directly said: "This year, our Northern Spirit Academy has five slots for the Five Great Academies."
"Five?" All the disciples exclaimed in surprise. Although only a few extremely powerful individuals were qualified to compete for the slots, they were always quite attractive to everyone.
"Furthermore..." Master Mo suddenly added, and at that moment, his eyes glanced at Mu Chen. "Besides those five slots, we have also received a seed-level slot."
"A seed-level slot?" Unexpectedly, the clamor in the courtyard vanished. Astonished eyes, as if disbelieving what they heard, all looked at Master Mo. After a long while, many people took a deep breath to calm their minds. Even Chen Fan and Huo Yun were breathing much faster.
Mu Chen was probably the only one who remained calm about the seed slot. It was indeed rare, but... if he had successfully completed the Spirit Path, he would probably have been more than capable of getting a slot, even one of the highest level.
"The seed slot is only for the strongest disciple of the Northern Spirit Academy. Therefore, to win it, you must defeat all competitors." Master Mo looked at the frightened disciples, then looked at Mu Chen with eyes as calm as a lake, and smiled, saying: "In our Eastern Courtyard of the Heavenly Realm, five people are qualified to compete for the slot: Chen Fan, Huo Yun, Mo Ling, Tang Tian'er, and... Mu Chen."
Upon hearing those five names, many sighs of regret echoed through the courtyard. But they all understood that to obtain that qualification, they had to reach the Spirit Wheel Realm in the near future. Among them, perhaps only those five were truly qualified.
"For the next month, I will dedicate a specialized cultivation guidance course for the five of you. So that you can successfully advance to the Spirit Wheel Realm within one month!" Master Mo's deep voice resonated through the courtyard.
"Yes!" Mo Ling and the others, hearing this, excitedly shouted loudly. Master Mo was a Spirit Soul Realm expert; with his specialized guidance, their cultivation progress would certainly be smoother.
Mu Chen just smiled helplessly, hesitated for a moment, and raised his hand.
"Mu Chen, what do you need?" Master Mo saw Mu Chen's hand and asked.
"Master Mo, I don't think I need that."
Master Mo was startled, then suddenly seemed to guess something. His eyes focused, scrutinizing Mu Chen closely. He clearly felt the spiritual energy fluctuations around him were very unusual.
"You... you've already entered the early stage of the Spirit Wheel Realm?" Master Mo exclaimed in shock.
Silence fell.
Not only Tang Tian'er and Mo Ling stared at Mu Chen in astonishment, but even Chen Fan and Huo Yun gaped at him.
That guy... had actually reached the Spirit Wheel Realm?