"Sorry, I accidentally broke through to the mid-stage Spiritual Movement Realm last night."
Mu Chen looked at Liu Yang with a faint smile as he spoke casually.
"..."
The blow those words dealt Liu Yang was no less painful than ten thousand arrows piercing his heart.
Dean Xiao and the other two on the main seats did not know whether to laugh or cry. He had accidentally broken through? Since when had breakthroughs become as easy as playing around for the Mu brothers?
"Little Mu, well done."
Mu Yuan gave him a thumbs-up.
"Brother Yuan taught me well."
Seeing Brother Yuan's calm, unsurprised expression, Mu Chen knew that even if he had now reached the mid-stage Spiritual Movement Realm, he might still not be Brother Yuan's match.
It seemed he needed to make better use of his time to cultivate.
"Two outstanding talents from the Mu Domain."
Having recovered from their shock, the Heaven Grade students from West Courtyard could not help sighing.
Under Mu Yuan's dazzling brilliance, they had nearly overlooked Mu Chen, who had once obtained a Spiritual Road qualification.
That was the Spiritual Movement Realm. Advancing in cultivation was far more difficult than in the Sensing Realm.
In ten days, even if they had been in the Sensing Realm, it would have been impossible for them to rise from the mid-stage to the late stage.
In terms of talent, Mu Chen was likely no inferior to Mu Yuan.
"That's quite a lot of pressure."
They had actually felt a trace of pressure from Mu Yuan and Mu Chen.
Liu Yang really was unlucky to have run into these two monstrous brothers.
This time, he had suffered a complete and utter defeat.
At that thought, everyone instinctively looked at Liu Yang, their eyes carrying a trace of pity.
Pfft!
Liu Yang could not help spitting out another mouthful of blood.
His vision went dark, and he fainted dead away on the arena.
Mu Yuan's punch had brought him indescribable terror and shattered his mental state.
Then Mu Chen had released his spiritual energy, dealing him another blow.
The double blow had thoroughly crushed Liu Yang's once-proud self-esteem.
The Mu brothers had already left an indelible shadow in his heart.
After today, Liu Yang would no longer be the proud Liu Yang he once was.
"He couldn't even take that little bit of stimulation."
"I miscalculated!"
Mu Yuan felt somewhat depressed.
If he remembered correctly, in the original plot, after Liu Yang lost to Mu Chen, he would fly into a rage from humiliation and take out the Spirit Breaking Bead, intending to fight Mu Chen to the death.
That thing was a spiritual artifact with immense destructive power. Some powerful experts who had reached a certain level could compress powerful spiritual energy into such a tiny bead.
The user only needed to activate it to unleash a remarkably powerful spiritual energy attack.
Creating Spirit Breaking Beads required a special metal called Spirit Gold. This metal was quite expensive, and making the beads required extremely precise control over spiritual energy. The failure rate was also exceptionally high, which made Spirit Breaking Beads particularly rare.
He had intended to provoke Liu Yang a little and make him reveal that treasure.
Who would have thought it would backfire?
"From the moment I descended into the Great Thousand World, I may have already set off a series of butterfly effects."
In his previous world, a butterfly in the Amazon River basin only had to flap its wings a few times to cause a tornado in Texas, USA.
What Mu Yuan had done over the years went far beyond merely flapping a few wings.
The future landscape of the Great Thousand World might even change because of him.
Suddenly, an urgent whistling sound cut through the air. A slender figure carrying surging spiritual energy shot toward the arena like an arrow, finally landing beside Liu Yang.
"Liu Mu Bai!"
Mu Yuan raised his head and met his gaze. That handsome face belonged to Liu Mu Bai.
Liu Mu Bai picked up Liu Yang and examined his injuries. Only after confirming that his life was not in danger did he breathe a sigh of relief.
However, even with the Liu Domain's resources, these injuries would leave him bedridden for around half a month.
Liu Mu Bai gave Mu Yuan a deep look.
"Junior Mu Yuan, you're really something."
However, he was clearly far more calculating than Liu Yang. Rather than becoming angry, he smiled and said,
"Thank you, Junior Mu Yuan, for showing Liu Yang mercy. Oh, you'll be a Heaven Grade student from now on as well. I'm quite interested in you, and I hope we'll have a chance to exchange pointers in the future."
"You flatter me, Senior Liu."
Mu Yuan narrowed his eyes and smiled as well.
Although Liu Mu Bai wore a smile on his handsome face, the gloomy chill flowing deep in his eyes did not escape Mu Yuan's notice.
Liu Mu Bai was indeed quite outstanding, and he also knew how to endure.
However, Mu Yuan had read nine hundred and ninety-nine novels, with all manner of major villains portrayed within them.
For example, Jiang Qin from The Legendary Siblings, who betrayed his master for glory, and Yue Buqun, the hypocritical head of the Huashan Sect in The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, among others.
Compared to them, Liu Mu Bai was barely worth mentioning.
"Senior Liu, when the time comes, I'd also like to exchange a few moves with you."
A father and son went to battle together, and brothers stood together in a fight. Mu Chen also looked toward Liu Mu Bai, the corners of his lips lifting slightly. He had likewise noticed the trace of gloom in Liu Mu Bai's eyes.
This guy was indeed more troublesome than Liu Yang, but he was still a little lacking compared to the monsters on the Spiritual Road.
On the arena, the Mu brothers and Liu Mu Bai all wore smiles, but more perceptive people could still sense the sharp confrontation surging beneath those smiles.
"These Mu brothers are truly formidable. They won't yield even in the face of Brother Liu."
"It's a pity Liu Yang has already lost. Otherwise, a two-on-two battle between the Mu brothers and the Liu brothers would have been even more intense."
"Once the Mu brothers enter the Heaven Grade of our Northern Spiritual Academy, things are bound to get lively..."
The senior Heaven Grade students from West Courtyard could not help clicking their tongues in amazement at the scene.
After Liu Mu Bai left with Liu Yang, this Academy Trial had essentially come to an end.
Mu Chen symbolically chose an opponent.
"Come out."
The person Mu Chen called upon was a student from West Courtyard.
The young man's body trembled, and his face turned somewhat pale, but he still walked toward the arena.
Ranked third among the Earth Grade students and only half a step away from the Spiritual Movement Realm, he had completely lost his confidence upon seeing Mu Chen standing before him. His entire aura had vanished.
"Are you ready?" Mu Chen asked.
"I'm ready."
Even his voice trembled. The next moment, Mu Chen strode toward him.
Bang!
Everyone saw the young man sent flying after being rammed by Mu Chen, whose body was bathed in dark black radiance.
At this point, all three top positions in the Earth Grade, once monopolized by West Courtyard, had been defeated.
After that, others successively stepped onto the arena to reveal their realms and challenge opponents.
There were some exciting matches as well, but none could compare to the shock Mu Yuan had caused.
By the time the sun slanted westward, the Academy Trial was drawing to a close and finally came to an end.
Dean Xiao announced the results of the Academy Trial on the spot. Naturally, East Courtyard had stolen the show, while Earth Grade students such as Mu Yuan, Mu Chen, and Tan Qingshan, who had entered the Spiritual Movement Realm, smoothly advanced to the Heaven Grade.
"Ji Xuan, this time, let's have a proper fight!"
After entering the Heaven Grade, Mu Chen knew that the Five Great Academies were drawing ever closer. The unresolved grudges from the Spiritual Road would be settled in the Five Great Academies.
"Hey..."
Just then.
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