Chapter 2 – The Boy Kicked Out From the Spiritual Road
Su Ling and the others stared at the west branch seniors on the high platform. Their imposing manner also became slightly weaker, especially when they saw the girl known as Hong Ling. Their eyes became passionate at first, then shrank down. She is a truly influential person within the Northern Spiritual Academy. There are quite a few followers even within the east branch for her.
“Oi, Brother Mu, that is the west branch’s senior Hong Ling. There was a rumor that you liked her as a child…” Su Ling leaned over to Mu Chen and whispered as he chuckled.
After hearing this, Mu Chen could not help but bat an eye towards him. He, indeed, had some sort of relationship with Hong Ling when he was young, but at that age, who would know what love is? He simply wanted to find a playmate. However, his father and Hong Ling’s father started to get in a discord quite often for the past few years. The relationship between both sides had gradually grown apart. It was unknown how this kind of rumor came up.
Mu Chen could only helplessly shake his head. Then, he stared at Liu Che, who had a provocative look on his face. A faint light of Spiritual Energy began to come out of his body and he slowly clasped his palms.
“If you have something to say, then hurry up and say it.”
Mu Chen looked at the few individuals standing at the high platform nearby. His gaze stopped for a moment on that slender figure, then he retracted his sight: “Even though they are here, but if I want to beat you up, you would still suffer pain on your flesh even if they stop me.”
Towards the arrogant bastards from the west branch, he did not like them as well.
“You!”
After Liu Che heard Mu Chen’s words, his eyes suddenly showed fury. However, just after he shouted out angrily, he noticed that Mu Chen’s mouth lowered slightly. The originally soft and brilliant face suddenly had a cold feeling coming out of it. This cold feeling was like a wild and ice-like knife.
This feeling was like the awakening of a storm and it, inadvertently, revealed an extraordinary sharpness.
This feeling was absolutely something that an innocent youth would not be able to possess at this age.
Liu Che swallowed the cry within his mouth. He stared in surprise at Mu Chen and his facial color changed. He was definitely slightly afraid of the latter’s strength. When Mu Chen defeated Xue Dong from the West Branch Earth Class, he was there at the scene.
“Oh, he really is quite insolent.”
The seniors of the West Branch Heaven Class, who were standing at the high platform, heard these words as well. They immediately began to frown and felt that they lost some face, especially because Hong Ling was present.
Hong Ling also looked a little surprised at Mu Chen. She did not imagine that the seemingly gentle boy would also have such a masculine side to him. He seemed to be quite different than the boy back then.
A couple of the West Branch Heaven Class Seniors could not endure it, jumped down the high platform and walked over slowly. Seeing them come over, Su Ling and the others all took a step back and were completely alert.
Noticing this, Hong Ling did not stop them. After all, she was a person from the West Branch and she, too, wanted to see whether the boy, who seemed ordinary to her before, would truly be dazzling after leaving his childhood.
“Brother Tong.” After Liu Che noticed that these people were walking over, he felt happy. Then, his eyes showed off a prideful feeling again as he looked at Mu Chen and the others.
Seeing this, Mu Chen frowned slightly. However, there was not much fear within his expression. Although they were Heaven Class Seniors, their strength was only at the Spiritual Movement Stage Initial Phase. If they were to really fight, then they wouldn’t be in an advantage either.
The leading senior called Brother Tong nodded his head. His eyes stared at Mu Chen. But just when he wanted to speak, a sudden shout rang out from nearby.
“Tong Guan, you, West Branch Heaven Class people, actually came to the East Branch to bully our Earth Class Students. You really don’t put the East Academy within your sights, huh?”
The sudden shout made everybody freeze. After turning their heads around, they could see many figures rapidly coming from nearby. In the very front was a tall girl. Her black clothes were like ink and it outlined a graceful curve. Her face was extremely pretty and her long bluish black hair was tied into a ponytail. Her long legs were slender and slim and her beauty was in no way inferior to Hong Ling.
At this moment, the girl had a cold expression as she stared at Tong Guan and the others. The people behind her also had an unwelcoming expression.
“It’s Senior Qian’Er”
When Su Ling saw the girl in black clothes, he immediately became excited. A little bit of his innocent, youthful face turned slightly red. This person was known as one of the two flowers of the northern spiritual academy along with Hong Ling. Their suitors were numerous, he did not imagine that he would actually meet her here.
“Ohh, so it’s Qian’Er.”
When Tong Guan saw the girl in black clothes, he was also startled. His expression did not seem natural. Not only did Tang Qian’Er have many suitors within the Northern Spiritual Academy, her strength had also reached the Spiritual Movement Middle Phase. Within the Heaven Class of the Northern Spiritual Academy, she was considered to be quite excellent.
The girl named Tang Qian’Er came to the side of Mu Chen. Her narrow eyes looked at Tong Guan, then she looked at Hong Ling, who was at the high platform. The two girls stared at each other unyieldingly and sparks seemed to fly from their eyes.
“Why did you come over here?” Tang Qian’Er retracted her gaze and coldly asked.
“Look at this point. Although we are people from the west branch, the west branch is still part of the northern spiritual academy. Thus, it shouldn’t be illegal for us to come over here, right.” Tong Guan shrugged and smiled.
Tang Qian’Er issued out a cold hmph sound, then she extended her slender hands and patted on Mu Chen’s shoulders. She lowered her pointed chin and said: “Mu Chen is one of the east branch’s people, if you dare to cause trouble for him, then don’t blame me for not being polite.”
As she talked, her black ponytail bounced valiantly and she seemed to have a style of a Big Sister.
“It seems that your luck with the ladies is quite good.” Tong Guan smiled at Mu Chen. The smile had a bit of mockery and a bit of jealousy. He also had some thoughts towards Tang Qian’Er, only that he never obtained any good intentions from her.
“Having luck with the ladies is also a type of strength.” Mu Chen smiled as if he did not hear the mockery within his words. Compared to those guys from the Spiritual Road, Tong Guan was really too inexperienced.
From the high platform, Hong Ling looked at Mu Chen. She was somewhat disappointed and retracted her gaze. Was he still so lazy and cowardly like before?
“Forget it, we did not come here to cause trouble to you today. We only wanted to inform you of one thing.”
Seeing that he would not be able to incite Mu Chen’s fury, Tong Guan also felt bored. He waved his hand towards Liu Chen and the latter, let out a cold smile and said: “Mu Chen, I am representing Big Brother Liu Yang to deliver you a message. Ten days later, during the competition between the two branches, he will select you as his opponent.”
“Liu Yang?”
Hearing this name, the color on Su Ling and the others’ faces changed. Liu Yang is the true number one within the west branch earth class. It was said that he recently advanced to the spiritual movement stage.
“Ah, that’s right. I’ll tell you something else as well. Three days ago, when Big Brother Liu Yang was tested, they discovered that he possesses a Spiritual Pulse. Although it is only Human Level…” Liu Chen gloated as he stared at Mu Chen and smiled.
“Human Level Spiritual Pulse?!”
When these words were said, not only did Su Ling and the other’s facial complexion change, even Tang Qian’Er was slightly moved. Within the entire Northern Spiritual Academy, there will never be more than a handful of students who possess a Spiritual Pulse. Who would have imagined that Liu Yang actually had it too?
“Human Level Spiritual Pulse…” Tong Guan smacked his lips and gave a pitiful stare at Mu Chen. Liu Yang also had the strength of a Spiritual Movement Initial Phase, but if you include the Human Level Spiritual Pulse, it would be difficult for a Spiritual Movement Middle Phase to defeat him. It appears that Mu Chen was out of luck.
“Big Brother Liu Yang said that it is fine if you do not dare to accept it. But just don’t show up on that day, then he would not embarrass you.” Liu Chen had a strange smile. If Mu Chen did not appear on that day, then his reputation within the East Branch would shatter instantly.
“You’re bullying him way too much!” Tang Qian’Er frowned as she shouted.
“Senior Qian’Er, you shouldn’t blame us. A person should always maintain a low-profile. He shouldn’t believe that he could be proud because he obtained the qualification to the “Spiritual Road” due to luck.” Liu Chen said and curled his lips up.
“You!”
Tang Qian’Er flew into fury. But just before she headed forward, a hand gripped onto her shoulder. She turned her head around and saw that a brilliant smile appeared on Mu Chen’s face: “Yes, go tell Liu Yang that I will be waiting for him.”
“How courageous! Then we will wait to see your excellent performance.”
Liu Chen gave a thumbs up to Mu Chen and grinned. He then laughed as he turned away. With his expression, it was evident that he could not wait until the competition ten days later.
After Liu Chen, Tong Guan and the others left, Hong Ling, who was on the high platform, stared at him for a while before turning around leaving as well.
“Brother Mu, are you really going to accept that Liu Yang’s challenge? It won’t be easy to deal with him now since he has a Spiritual Pulse.” Su Ling and the others stared at the departing Tong Guan and asked in concern.
“I’ll do my best.” Mu Chen casually said.
“Oi, you’re so stupid. They were obviously provoking you. Now, you must accept the challenge!” Tang Qian’Er said with an irritated voice.
“Relax, Sister Qian’Er, I know what I’m doing.” Mu Chen smiled.
Tang Qian’Er frowned in puzzlement. Her eyes stared at his innocent face. He seemed to have a bright and gentle smile, but she did not know why she felt something hidden deep inside his eyes.
“Hmph, anyways, I won’t be the one to be disgraced when that happens.” Tang Qian’Er let out a sigh and said with dissatisfaction.
“Sister Qian’Er seems to be very concerned about me?” Mu Chen stared at the irritated, yet beautiful face and could not help but laugh as he said that.
“I don’t care if you are dead.” Tang Qian’Er’s face flushed for abit. She immediately batted her eye at Mu Chen and said: “I was only worried that you were beaten half to death and will disgrace the East Branch’s face.”
Mu Chen smiled. Tang Qian’Er’s father is also one of the Territory Lords within the Northern Spiritual Realm and had an excellent relationship with his father. The two families always contacted each other, so his relationship with Tang Qian’Er was also very good.
“That’s right, there was one news that I heard recently.” Tang Qian’Er waved at Su Ling to move them out of the way and then her eyes stared at Mu Chen: “I heard it from the principal. It seems that the “Spiritual Road” has finally ended.”
Mu Chen’s body trembled and he looked up. He let out a breath, so it was finally over…
“It was said that there were many insane individuals that appeared in the Spiritual Road this time. Among them, there is one that is extremely terrifying. He seemed to have the Heaven Level Spiritual Pulse that is rarely seen even within ten thousand years. The Five Great Academies were fighting so much for him that they were bleeding.”
The Spiritual Pulse is divided into 3 types: Heaven, Earth and Human. It will bring numerous benefits to their training. In general, a person who possesses a Spiritual Pulse would have a much faster training speed compared to normal individuals. They would also experience many shortcuts. And for so many years, there was never an Earth Level Spiritual Pulse that appeared within the Northern Spiritual Academy, not to mention even a Heaven Level Spiritual Pulse. From this, you can see just how rare a Spiritual Pulse is.
Tang Qian’Er stuck out her red tongue and was extremely cute and lovely: “A Heaven Level Spiritual Pulse. I’ve never seen one before. As expected, the ones that participated in the Spiritual Road are all insane people. That’s right, that’s right, you also participated in the Spiritual Road, do you know who that person is?”
“He should be …Ji Xuan, right? Mu Chen said in a faint voice. It was a name that was etched deeply into his memory.
“You know him?” Tang Qian’Er said in surprise.
“Yes, I know him. He is indeed quite an amazing person.” Mu Chen smiled, lowered his eyes and said: “I nearly killed him”.
Tang Qian’Er’s beautiful eyes widened up. She stared at the innocent face in front of her that suddenly turned cold. She stammered as she asked: “Is that true?”
“It’s a lie, you actually believed in it? I was a person who was kicked out in the middle, how could I compare with the superb individual that the Five Great Academies were fighting over to get?” Mu Chen’s cold expression vanished instantly. He stared at Tang Qian’Er with a surprised expression and could not resist laughing.
Tang Qian’Er bit her teeth in resentment. She seemed to want to bite him twice, but she still endured it. She said with a sigh: “You only advanced to the Spiritual Movement Stage, you haven’t learned any Spiritual Arts yet, right? I heard that Liu Yang has already been practicing.”
“Spiritual Arts, huh. I will learn some when I go back this time. It’s just the right time, my dad told me to find him after I advanced to the Spiritual Movement Stage.” Mu Chen smiled as he spoke.
“Yes, then I’m leaving first.” Tang Qian’Er nodded. Mu Chen’s father was still one of the Territory Lords within the Northern Spiritual Realm. He should be able to prepare a decent Spiritual Art for Mu Chen. Thus, she did not say much more and waved her hand. Her ponytail swung as she twisted her body to leave.
“That’s right.”
Tang Qian’Er walked gracefully for a bit then turned her head back to stare at Mu Chen. She thought for a while and said: “If you do not think that you have any chance of winning, how about I beat that guy Liu Yang for you? Although his Big Brother Liu Mubai would be a bit troublesome…”
“Can’t you believe in me a bit more? Mu Chen said helplessly. How did she even think of such a method?
“Hmph, you fail to understand a person’s kindness.”
Tang Qian’Er said angrily. If other people in the Northern Spiritual Academy wanted her help, she would refuse to do so. But yet why would this guy be the only one to have a detestable expression. After thinking up to this point, she stormed away in anger.
Mu Chen watched Tang Qian’Er’s moving figure disappearing. He also let out a smile and immediately muttered: “Since the Spiritual Road has ended, she should have entered the Five Great Academies as well, right? I wonder which one she has entered?”
Thinking back when he had to leave, among the lush forest, a girl with long, silver hair used a pair of green eyes and watched him quietly.
“I will wait for you at the Five Great Academies, if you do not come…”
Within the girl’s slender hand, she was holding a sword. She lifted it up until it was in front of his chest and gently poked him at the location of his heart. “I will kill him, but…”
The girl stared at him with her eyes as clear as glass.
“I do not like people who readily admit their failure, but this time, it can’t be considered as your loss, at least I liked it.”
The gentle wind blew and raised the girl’s proud and bright silver hair. On her cold, white face, a slight tint of red appeared. Although it was faint, it was still dazzlingly beautiful.
“So, you must come!”