Chapter 317 - Spiritual Light Mountain
As time continued to pass till this point, the atmosphere of the hunting grounds had already completely erupted. Countless students went hunting berserkly for gathering points, while those that had some harvest would hurriedly rush to the deepest part of the hunting grounds. Everyone was very clear that regardless of how much they did their utmost in here, if they were unable to clear the final pass, their earlier hard work would be all for naught.
It was said that the final protectors were the three Great Generals of the Punishment Hall. They were the most influential people in the apex of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy. At that time, Shen Cangsheng, and Li Xuantong were perhaps similar to Mu Chen back then when they were just freshmens, staring at the back of those peak existences.
The hunts in the past only had one protector; however, this year, the difficult had increased. Facing the obstruction by the three Great Generals, even if Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong were to collaborate, it would still be a hard thing for them to fight their way through.
This point was the worry within the hearts of many people. However, having reached such a point, there was absolutely no point in thinking and worrying at random about this. Everything had to depend on the start of that large battle before it could be reconsidered.
Mu Chen and the rest proceeded to head towards the depths of the hunting grounds. On the way, they did not stop once, even if they were to pass by any gathering points. They had already harvested to their maximum limit, and normal gathering points were already not enough to spark the slightest bit of interest.
Using their full-speed, they had already entered the depths of the hunting grounds after a day. As they entered this region, they were able to sense the fiery atmosphere that was only present there.
Whooshing sounds seemed to endlessly ring across the sky as everyone headed towards the same direction at full speed.
On the top of a lone peak, Mu Chen looked at the figures that blotted the skies, before narrowing his eyes while turning towards the deeper depths. A faint cold glint started to circulate within those pair of black pupils.
Along the way, the news that they had gathered grew more and more. Now, he had also started to understand why He Yao wanted to take action against Su Xuan. She had a gentle temperament, and did not have a particular love for combat. Although she was ranked 3rd on the Heavenly Rankings, she did not pay special attention to it. If any possessed ample strength and wanted to take it from her, she might’ve even taken the initiative to hand it over.
Therefore, He Yao sending out the challenge was clearly not because he was eyeing the 3rd rank on the Heavenly Rankings that Su Xuan held.
He wanted to rely on this action to force Mu Chen, who had disappeared for a day, out. The driving force for this was sufficient, as Mu Chen had destroyed the main headquarters of the Demon Gate, which caused He Yao to lose face. Added with the fact that Mu Chen had a Spirit King’s Spirit Crystal with him now, these were already ample reasons for the former to take action.
“So, he did all of this to deal with me.” Mu Chen said with a faint smile.
“That He Yao wants to challenge Senior Sister Su Xuan at the bottom of the Spiritual Light Mountain. I think that he did this to lure you out.” Luo Li said in a soft voice, before continuing, “Looks like he’s very worried that you’ll find a place to arrange a large quantity of Spiritual Arrays for him to fall into.”
Mu Chen nodded his head in approval. This He Yao truly was discreet, and was afraid of Mu Chen having plans against him while hiding this intent. Therefore, he was willing to take the initiative as an advantage instead of allowing the latter to secretly arrange Spiritual Arrays to deal with him. Using Su Xuan as bait, he wanted to force Mu Chen out. This way, Mu Chen would not be able to arrange his Spiritual Arrays beforehand.
“That fellow truly is deceitful.” Wang Tong said with a grin. They had all faintly heard of the grudges between Mu Chen and He Yao, thus were slightly worried as he asked, “Do you want us three to scout the Spiritual Light Mountain first? As for Su Xuan, this is still in the Spiritual Light World; at most, she would suffer serious injuries and leave the hunt. Her life won’t be threatened.”
Hearing that, Mu Chen shook his head. Looking at the direction of the Spiritual Light Mountain, he replied, “There’s no need. That’s the end point. He Yao would wait for me there. Thus, the fight between him and me would be unavoidable.”
Although he knew that He Yao was always concealing and suppressing his strength, Mu Chen had, similarly, increased his strength by quite a lot since the day of the confrontation at the Demon Gate’s Main Headquarters. If He Yao wanted to suppress him, it might not be an easy task to accomplish.
“Let’s go.”
Without saying anything more, with a wave of his palm, Mu Chen took the lead and sped onwards, with Luo Li and the rest immediately following behind.
As Mu Chen and the group hurriedly rushed over, the depths of the hunting grounds were already filled with a vast crowd. Presently, there was a gigantic mountain, approximately 33 thousand metres tall whose peak rushed towards the heavens, rising straight into the clouds. Its peak was surrounded by a cloudy layer, causing people to be unable to view the scene present there.
This mountain, was Spiritual Light Mountain.
At the peak of this mountain, the three Great Generals of the Punishment Hall were holding guard.
At its base was an extremely spacious platform, which was now packed full with a sea of people. If one were to look across, one would be unable to see the end. Innumerable clamouring noises converged together, with even the cloudy layers in the horizon being seemingly scattered by it.
As of now, within the centre of the Spiritual Light platform was a gigantic stone platform standing erect. It was devoid of people, create an obvious contrast compared to the surrounding sea of people.
Everyone’s gazes were seemingly converged on the top of the empty stone platform. On it sat two figures, a female and a male. The male had a head full of long green hair, with an alluring face. The female, wearing a white dress, had a beautiful face that appeared gentle and heart-moving.
These two were influential figures at the peak of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy. With such a confrontation, it had naturally caused an abnormal amount of attention.
“He Yao, you’ve already waited for a day. Are you still not going to take action?” On the platform, Su Xuan spoke out while faintly wrinkling her slim eyebrows. Her eyes were filled with some chilliness as she stared at the green-haired figure in the distance. As her indifferent voice rang out, it carried a tinge of mockery. Being intelligent, she naturally understood the reason why He Yao had sought her.
He Yao gave a faint smile as he replied, “Su Xuan. You’ve protected that brat from the start to the end. As of now, when you’re in trouble, he hides and doesn’t dare to show himself. Looks like your eyesight isn’t that good.”
Su Xuan raised her long and beautiful pupils, the mockery in her eyes increased as she said, “He Yao, there’s no need to proclaim so pompously. You’re using me to force Mu Chen to appear. Aren’t you just scared that he’ll arrange some Spiritual Arrays beforehand to deal with you?”
A cold glint flashed past He Yao’s face as he replied indifferently, ‘You’re looking too highly on him. When he appears, I’ll naturally make you understand that the headquarters of my Demon’s Gate isn’t something that can be sliced apart by a waste like him.”
“He’s able to kill a Spirit King. Can you?” A disdainful arc appeared on Su Xuan’s lips as she mocked him.
Hearing her mockery, He Yao tightly clenched his fists. However, his face still remained indifferent as he replied. “That was only just a newly-born Spirit King. He had only managed to get lucky. That isn’t something worth mentioning.”
The two people stared at each other on the platform; however, He Yao still had no intention to take action. This made the countless people who had cast their gazes over to feel speechless. However, they were faintly able to discern, and were also able to understand, the motive of the latter. No wonder, this fellow’s goal wasn’t Su Xuan, but Mu Chen…
If it wasn’t for that shocking news about the Spirit King being killed, there might be people who would not understand why He Yao placed Mu Chen as his ultimate goal. However, now they no longer had such thoughts.
As of now, Mu Chen’s fame within the hunting grounds might’ve been even more than He Yao’s. This was due to him being the only person to ever kill a Spirit King in the past few years.
On the side of the stone platform, Su Ling’er watched the two people on the stone platform with concern. Beside her, Lin Qing and Guo Xiang were also resting their gazes on the stone platform.
“That fellow wants to force Mu Chen out, before snatching the Spiritual King’s Spiritual Light from him.” Guo Xiong said in a low voice.
“What should we do?” Upon hearing this, Su Ling’er instantly became slightly anxious. Previously, she had heard her elder sister say that the current He Yao was exceedingly strong, and even she wasn’t his opponent. If Mu Chen was truly forced out, wouldn’t that be unfortunate?
“We can only wait and see.” Lin Qing and Guo Xiong both helplessly sighed. As of now, they did not have any other methods to deal with this situation.
Su Ling’er stomped her little feet and bit her lip as she stared at He Yao on the platform. For the first time, she felt that that fellow made her feel unexpectedly disgusted.
While everyone’s gazes were converged on the Spiritual Light platform, on the cloud covered Spiritual Light Mountain, two figures had their hands crossed behind their backs as they stood under the giant trees that shot through the clouds. Their eyes pierced through the lingering clouds toward the sea of humans at the base of the mountain.
“He Yao’s strength has greatly increased. Su Xuan isn’t his opponent.” said Li Xuantong indifferently as he stared at a figure on the Spiritual Light platform, before continuing, “I don’t know whether Mu Chen will appear, since He Yao seems to be aiming directly for him.”
Hearing this, Shen Cangsheng smiled. Raising his head, he looked towards the summit of the mountain peak. Curling his lips slightly, he said, “ Those three fellows are really strong. It seems slightly impossible for only the two of us to deal with the three of them.”
“The three Great Generals. Their boss should be Senior Lin Zheng. I can deal with him; however, it would only end in a draw.” said Shen Cangsheng with a slightly regretful tone as he shrugged his shoulders.
Upon hearing this, Li Xuantong’s eyes faintly contracted before shooting a look at Shen Cangsheng. This fellow can actually fight evenly with Senior Lin Zheng? He’s the strongest person amongst the three Great Generals, and was the previous #1 on the Heavenly Rankings!
“I can also deal with one. Although a victory would be hard to say, I’ll not lose.” he said slowly.
“That means that we’re short one person.” said Shen Cangsheng as he wrinkled his brows, before continuing, “Even if we were to have three draws, it would be considered our win. However, it's difficult to find another capable person again. This He Yao doesn’t make the cut.”
“There are still two people to choose from.” Looking at the distance, Li Xuantong said slowly, “Mu Chen and Luo Li. However, in this kind of matter, there clearly needs to be a man to stand up and handle it.”
“Mu Chen…”
Shen Cangsheng rubbed his chin and looked towards the the stone platform at the base of the mountain, before saying, “That will depend on whether or not he shows up. If he’s able to defeat He Yao, the third slot will be his. I think by then, no other student will oppose that.”
“However, if he loses to He Yao, then there’s no other way, and the place can only be given to He Yao to try.”
Li Xuantong faintly nodded his head in approval. This decision determined the interests of all the students. Therefore, even though he didn’t like He Yao, if Mu Chen lost to him, the third slot would be given to the former.
Suddenly, he raised his head to look at the distance. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he said in a soft voice, “He’s here.”
Shen Cangsheng smiled and similarly nodded his head. Shooting his vision brimming with interest at the distance, he stared at the number of streaks of light sweeping over, before muttering, “Next up, we’ll have to see, between him and He Yao, who exactly would be the one to earn the qualifications of the third slot…”