Chapter 266 - Wheel
Mu Chen and his party exited the Mission Hall, raised their faces towards the blue horizon, and sighed breaths of relief. Now that they’d turned in their report, their mission was considered complete.
“Thanks for back there.” Mu Chen smiled as he held his Spiritual Value Point Card. 1,500,000 Spiritual Value Points. This was his largest harvest since entering the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy. And now, he was also another step closer towards the Blood Essence of the Northern Sea Dragon.
Su Xuan smiled back. “It’s all thanks to you that we managed to complete this mission. It’d be ridiculous for us to let your rewards be halved.”
The other three nodded at that. If it hadn’t been for Mu Chen, they might not have returned alive — forget about the mission.
“Mu Chen.” Li Qing suddenly spoke up. She raised her jade-like hands, called out her Spiritual Value Point Card, and tapped it. A concentrated light flew out from her medal.
She looked at him and quietly explained, “As I said before, you helped me win the Draconic Spiritual Bracelets, so my mission reward is now yours.”
Mu Chen helplessly smiled back. Li Qing was a cold and strong woman — once she decided on something, there was no way to change her mind. All he could do was nod and accept the light streaming into his Spiritual Value Point Card. In an instant, his Spiritual Value Points was over 3,000,000.
Guo Xiong smiled too. “Haha. Here’s some from me. I took Bai Xuan’s High Rank Spiritual Artifact, even though you’re the one who killed him. You definitely have to accept these 1,500,000 Spiritual Value Points.”
A second light flew out from Guo Xiong’s Spiritual Value Point Card.
When Mu Chen killed Bai Xuan, he didn’t keep his High Rank Spiritual Artifact - Blood Spear — instead, he gave it Guo Xiong. After all, Mu Chen had already reaped the largest rewards from their mission to the White Dragon Hillocks. Not only did he obtain the White Dragon Spiritual Pearl, there was also the Ominous Artifact currently suppressed in his aura sea.
Mu Chen had clearly benefited the most from this mission.
Mu Chen could only smile bitterly as he watched the light pour from Guo Xiong’s card into his own. But he knew nothing about the Great Meru Demonic Pillar inside of him. As of right now, he needed all the Spiritual Value Points he could get — therefore, he could only resign himself and accept their gifts. All he could do was make note of Guo Xiong’s favor in his heart.
Su Ling’er spoke up as well. “Mu Chen, do you need more Spiritual Value Points?” Her slender fingers were wrapped around her Spiritual Value Point Card. She intended to help him, as well.
“I need a huge number of Spiritual Value Points — but everyone here also participated in this mission and deserves their rewards. I’ll accept Li Qing and Guo Xiong’s favors, and I’ll return them when I get the chance. As for the rest, please stop giving me more favors to carry.” Mu Chen sighed helplessly. Of course, he wanted to collect all the Spiritual Value Points he needed to purchase the Blood Essence of the Northern Sea Dragon, but he still found it hard to take his teammates’ mission rewards.
Su Ling’er saw the determination in his eyes and quietly murmured, “Alright then. But if you ever need more Spiritual Value Points, you should come find me.”
Mu Chen smiled and nodded in acknowledgement. Then, he turned to cup his hands towards the entire group. “Since the mission is over, I’ll take my leave first and return to the freshman area.”
He hadn’t seen Luo Li for nearly half a month and his heart was all tense from the yearning. He wanted to appear before her immediately, break the clam within her pupils, and take her into his arms.
Su Xuan and the others nodded. “Alright then. See you later.”
Mu Chen took his cue and turned to fly towards the freshman area. Barely ten minutes later, he slowed down as the familiar scene spread out before his eyes.
At the center of the freshman campus was a clear lake, and next to it was the plaza. Many members of the Goddess Luo Association were quietly seated and cultivating. At the center of the plaza were Zhou Ling and Ye Qingling.
Shhhhuuuu.
A gale whipped up and many of the cultivators opened their eyes in alarm to watch a single figure slowly descend into the plaza.
“Boss Mu Chen has returned!”
“Boss Mu Chen is back!”
The freshmen broke the silence and cried out in surprise when they saw him. Everyone stood up with joy in their eyes.
“Mu Chen?”
Zhou Ling and Ye Qingling also opened their eyes in disbelief when they saw Mu Chen standing in the plaza with them. A moment later, those expressions were replaced by joy.
“So, this guy is finally back.” Zhou Ling walked up to him and smiled.
Mu Chen smiled back, then looked around. “Where’s Luo Li?”
The moment he mentioned Luo Li, everyone’s expressions turned stiff. The other members of the Goddess Luo Association also hesitated.
Mu Chen knit his brows at their hesitation. “What’s wrong?”
“Luo Li is recuperating in that small building of yours.” Zhou Ling mumbled as if he was hiding something.
“Recuperating?” Mu Chen’s face instantly froze over as he looked at Zhou Ling. His voice was ice-cold when he spoke. “Just exactly what happened?”
Ye Qingling bitterly smiled.” Quite a few things have happened in the half month you were gone. Yang Hong disbanded his Wyvern Union and took some of his men to join the Demon’s Gate.”
“Demon’s Gate?”
“The Demon’s Gate is a force created by the Rank 4 of the Heavenly Ranking, He Yao. It’s well-known in the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy and it’s especially powerful. They’re second only to Li Xuantong’s Xuan Clan and Shen Cangsheng’s Judgement Squad.” Zhou Ling immediately explained.
“He Yao?” A cold light flashed through Mu Chen’s eyes as he continued, “What does he have to do with Luo Li’s injury?”
“Right after Yang Hong joined the Demon’s Gate, he started targeting members of our Goddess Luo Clan. He used to be afraid of you, but now that he’s joined the Demon’s Gate, he’s grown bolder. Plus the fact that you were gone from the Academy — he basically had nothing to fear. He started leading squads to stir up trouble and provoke us.”
Zhou Ling grounded his teeth as wrath filled his eyes. “We couldn’t bear it and fought with him. But he’s an extremely formidable enemy and his current cultivation has already reached the Heavenly Fusion Stage Late Phase. Even I couldn’t beat him.”
A look of embarrassment crept over his face as he admitted it.
“Zhou Ling wasn’t the only one who was injured. Any messengers we sent to him also returned with injuries.” Ye Qingling growled. “At first, we didn’t tell Luo Li about it, because we didn’t want to disturb her cultivation. But Yang Hong only grew more aggressive — he sent us a message demanding that we disband the Goddess Luo Association.”
Mu Chen’s eyes turned stone-cold. Since when was Yang Hong so unreasonable?
“The issue grew bigger and bigger until it reached Luo Li’s ears.” Ye Qingling bitterly smiled. “Of course, she took action.”
“This matter grew bigger and bigger and entered into Luo Li’s ears.” Ye Qingling bitterly smiled, “Thereafter, she took action. She fought against three members from the Heavenly Ranking’s top 20.”
“She defeated more than ten despicable experts from the Demon’s Gate. When those guys saw that they were losing the fight, they changed their tactics. Luo Li ended up fighting over fifty experts all alone. But in the end, those three top rankers still lost to her.”
“But Luo Li also suffered from that battle, and that’s why she’s recuperating. The Demon’s Gate hasn’t dared to provoke us since, for fear of Luo Li’s strength. That Yang Hong has also vanished without a trace.” Ye Qingling grounded her teeth. Her hatred for Yang Hong was blazing.
Mu Chen narrowed his eyes as a chill flickered in his black pupils.
“Mu Chen, I’m so sorry. It’s our fault. We were so weak that we needed her to help us in such a simple matter.” Zhou Ling flushed red and the other members of the Goddess Luo Association lowered their heads in shame. True, Luo Li had challenged the experts of the Demon’s Gate and beat them with no small amount of fame, but that fame felt like a knife to their pride.
Mu Chen lowered his eyes. “There must be someone else behind Yang Hong. That’s why a coward like him would dare provoke us.”
“Someone else?” Ye Qingling’s expression changed. “Are you talking about the Demon’s Gate’s boss, He Yao?”
He Yao was the only one who could order around the experts of the Demon’s Gate. Otherwise, why would anyone listen to a nobody like Yang Hong?
Mu Chen’s expression turned even colder as he stared at the ground. He Yao was probably pulling the strings. But why would he target the Goddess Luo Association?
Mu Chen balled his hands into fists. Right before he’d left on his mission, He Yao had asked him to hand over the seat that Su Xuan had given him. But Mu Chen had rejected him. At first, Mu Chen had thought nothing of it. But now, it was a very likely motive for He Yao’s grudge against him. What a petty-minded person.
He Yao had probably done this to try and teach him a lesson. But he’d miscalculated — he hadn’t expected there to be another formidable figure like Luo Li still guarding the Goddess Luo Association.
“He Yao.” Mu Chen’s cold eyes shifted.
Zhou Ling grounded his teeth again. “Mu Chen, what do you plan to do? If you’re going to stir up trouble with the Demon’s Gate, then take us with you. It doesn’t matter how injured we are. We’ll have them know that the Goddess Luo Association isn’t a bunch of cowards!”
Mu Chen shook his head and smiled. “Don’t worry. Let me handle this.”
This wasn’t Zhou Ling’s fault. Mu Chen just simply never expected He Yao to be so petty. No wonder Su Xuan despised him so much.
“Then, what are you going to do?” Zhou Ling asked.
Mu Chen lightly smiled as he approached his small building. A quietness fell over the plaza.
“Send a message to the Demon’s Gate. Tell them that Mu Chen would like to visit five days from now, to express his ‘thanks’.”