Volume One, Chapter 20: Dare You Set the Appointment for Next Year?
Before Mu Yi and Xiao Ziyue, a woman in a cyan dress appeared—none other than Shen Yushu, the dean of the Hidden Spirit Academy.
“Master!”
Xiao Ziyue’s face immediately lit up with joy upon seeing Shen Yushu.
“Danfeng, I’ll ask you once more—my order is for Mu Yi to enter the Heavenly Pool to cultivate. Do you still have any objections?”
Shen Yushu’s serene eyes, like a clear spring, fixed steadily on Danfeng without a hint of wavering.
“I dare not! Of course, he can enter!”
Danfeng didn’t dare hesitate for even a moment and quickly nodded. Although he was Mo Jinghong’s subordinate, now that Dean Shen had personally appeared, he dared not oppose her any further.
“Dean Shen, according to the academy’s long-standing rules—”
Mo Jinghong narrowed his eyes, clearly ready to speak.
Danfeng did not dare to provoke Shen Yushu.
But Mo Jinghong did!
Both were titans of the Qianyuan Realm.
“I am the dean, and the academy is under my rule!”
Shen Yushu didn’t even glance at Mo Jinghong, her tone sharp and commanding. “Mo Jinghong, Mu Yi merely killed one of your subordinates. Your aggressive attitude towards him now seems rather unbecoming, don’t you think?”
“Hmph, I never expected that a traitor from Great Qian Academy, upon arriving at our Hidden Spirit Academy, would be treated like a treasure by the dean, even going so far as to break our millennium-old rules to allow him direct access to the Heavenly Pool!”
Mo Jinghong’s tone soured. “I will report this matter to the Supreme Elder Council. Dean, you’d better watch out!”
With that, he swept his sleeve and strode away.
“Wait!”
At that moment, Mu Yi suddenly stepped forward, his eyes blazing with a fierce light.
“Hmm? Are you calling me?”
Mo Jinghong’s murderous aura flared explosively; he halted but didn’t turn around.
“If not you, then who else?”
Mu Yi stepped forward, his gaze sharp as a heavenly blade. “Mo Jinghong, I killed your subordinate, and you’ve been scheming against me. But there’s no need for these underhanded tactics. If you want to kill me, then I want to kill you too!”
“Do you dare to make a pact with me—a duel to the death on the Life-and-Death Platform in one year’s time?”
Mu Yi’s words were astonishing.
“Hahaha! Dean Shen, is this the person you value so highly? He’s nothing but a complete madman!”
Mo Jinghong suddenly laughed heartily, turning around to look at Mu Yi as if he were a fool.
A fresh recruit at the first level of the Tiangang Realm, who had only been at the academy for a day, now dared to challenge him to a life-or-death duel in one year?
If this spread, no one would believe it.
It was the biggest joke under heaven.
“Mo Jinghong! Whether you think I’m a fool or a madman, it doesn’t matter!”
Mu Yi’s tone was razor-sharp. “What matters is that I, Mu Yi, have now issued you a challenge. Do you dare to accept it or not?”
---
“Dean Shen, what do you think?”
Mo Jinghong dismissed Mu Yi’s words outright. As a titan of the Qianyuan Realm, Mu Yi was nothing more than an insignificant ant in his eyes.
“I support him!”
Shen Yushu cut straight to the point. “If you dare accept the challenge, I will announce it publicly. I don’t think Mu Yi is speaking nonsense anymore. The question is—do you have the guts to accept?”
“Hahaha! Fine! If Mu Yi is still alive a year from now, I will be waiting for him on the Life-and-Death Platform!”
Mo Jinghong turned and laughed. “Though I’m not sure if he’ll live to see this day next year.”
With that, his figure vanished.
“This…”
Everyone else, except for Shen Yushu and even Xiao Ziyue, was stunned.
None had expected Mu Yi to openly challenge Mo Jinghong!
Mo Jinghong was a titan of the Qianyuan Realm, a supreme figure in the Hidden Spirit Academy, second only to Dean Shen Yushu in status.
Mu Yi was merely a novice at the first level of the Tiangang Realm.
No one could have imagined Mu Yi would dare to issue a challenge to Mo Jinghong.
“Mu Yi, you may now enter the Heavenly Pool.”
Shen Yushu’s gaze remained calm as she spoke no more.
“Thank you, Dean.”
Mu Yi said nothing further, holding his head high as he strode confidently into the eastern gateway of the Jade Pool, disappearing from sight.
“Master, why didn’t you stop Mu Yi just now? And why do you support his decision to duel Mo Jinghong on the Life-and-Death Platform a year from now?”
After leaving the secret realm and returning to the outside world, Xiao Ziyue finally could not contain her doubts and asked.
To her, Mu Yi’s one-year challenge seemed reckless; no matter how extraordinary he was, it was unimaginable for him to bridge the gap with Mo Jinghong in just one year.
Mu Yi’s actions were practically suicidal.
“Do you not believe Mu Yi can fight Mo Jinghong in one year?” Shen Yushu smiled faintly.
Xiao Ziyue furrowed her brows. “I find it hard to believe. No matter how incredible Mu Yi is, I can’t imagine him closing the gap with Mo Jinghong in such a short time.”
“You must believe in him!”
Suddenly, Shen Yushu looked to the sky, her bright eyes shining. “Someone who can hold their own against Yan Yu at the same realm—his future is beyond our imagining. I believe a miracle will happen with him.”
As they spoke, their figures gradually vanished into the clouds.
---
“This is one of the four sacred cultivation sites of the Hidden Spirit Academy—the Heavenly Pool?”
The sound of rushing water and thick mist surrounded Mu Yi as he arrived beside a vast spring.
Stepping into the water, he immediately felt the surging spiritual energy, as if a serpent of spirit was frenziedly coursing into his body.
For a moment, his body felt like a traveler dying of thirst in the desert suddenly encountering an oasis, greedily drinking it all in.
“Boy, the spring here contains a rare terrestrial-grade spiritual vein of the Great Qian Dynasty. For your Dragon Elephant Divine Demon Battle Body, this is excellent nourishment. With the energy of this terrestrial-grade spiritual vein, you can break through to your second acupoint.”
At that moment, the mysterious woman’s voice echoed again from within the Dragon Elephant Divine Demon Tower.
“What? So beneath the Heavenly Pool lies a terrestrial-grade spiritual vein!”
Mu Yi was greatly surprised.
Spiritual veins were extremely rare in the Great Qian Dynasty—only five had been discovered so far.
One belonged to the imperial family, buried beneath the palace.
The other four were controlled by the four great academies.
It was precisely because of these four spiritual veins that the four academies had enjoyed continuous cultivation resources for a millennium, standing strong and unshaken.
A single spiritual vein was enough to found a sect for one of the four great academies in the Great Qian Dynasty!
Back when Mu Yi was an outer disciple at Great Qian Academy, he had only heard of spiritual veins, never imagining he might one day absorb their energy.
“Mu Yi, the energy here is extraordinary. You must seize this opportunity to awaken the second acupoint of your Dragon Elephant Divine Demon Battle Body. The benefits may even enable you to break through directly to the Divine Transformation Realm.”
The mysterious woman spoke again.
“What? Break through directly to the Divine Transformation Realm?”
Mu Yi was stunned.
The six great realms of the Great Qian Dynasty were: Qi Refining Realm, Tiangang Realm, Divine Transformation Realm, Origin Mansion Realm, Golden Core Realm, and Qianyuan Realm.
Each realm had ten sub-levels.
He was currently only at the first level of the Tiangang Realm.
The mysterious woman’s words—that awakening the second acupoint could propel him directly to the Divine Transformation Realm—were beyond anything Mu Yi had dared to imagine.
“It would be impossible for anyone else, but you are different. Your Dragon Elephant Divine Demon Battle Body has twelve meridians and 365 acupoints. Each acupoint holds the immense power of a dragon or elephant. This is a force beyond your comprehension.”
The mysterious woman continued, “Others can only absorb spiritual energy from heaven and earth to cultivate and increase their strength. But you don’t need to. You only need to keep unblocking acupoints. The tremendous power within will allow you to advance rapidly.”
“I understand!”
A brilliant gleam exploded in Mu Yi’s eyes.
“You have only seven days here. Whether you can unblock the second acupoint will determine your future success. Make sure to seize this opportunity.”
After she spoke, her presence vanished completely, as if she had never existed.
Yet every word she spoke was crucial for Mu Yi; she never uttered a single superfluous sentence.
“Unblock the second acupoint, break through to the Divine Transformation Realm!”
Mu Yi’s heart surged with boundless yearning.
---
“Huh? What’s going on? Why is the spiritual energy in the surrounding waters being drained?”
Just then, Mu Yi suddenly noticed the once dense spiritual energy around him was being swept away like a gale.
“It’s those two troublemakers again!”
Mu Yi turned sharply and saw Gufan and Nangong Ying behind him.
The two were deliberately targeting him, absorbing all the spiritual energy from the surrounding waters.
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End of pages.