Advance Planning, Jade Spirit Tree!

Northern Spirit Plains,

The heavens and earth were shrouded in gloom, and danger lurked everywhere within the lush, dense forest.

From time to time, low beast roars echoed from deep within the woods...

Crack—

The moment Qing Luo entered the Northern Spirit Plains, he heard the sound of trees breaking from a nearby forest.

"Hm..."

Following the sound, Qing Luo saw two towering ancient trees continuously collapsing within the forest.

Activating his Double Pupils,

Qing Luo saw two low-tier Spirit Beasts, Crimson Blood Boars, searching for food in the woods not far from him.

Crimson Blood Boars

were crimson-red all over and possessed terrifying strength. They were one of the more common Spirit Beasts in the Northern Spirit Plains.

They possessed strength comparable to the Late Spirit Movement Stage...

Buzz—

The two Crimson Blood Boars, each as large as rhinoceroses, lowered their heads and searched through the soil.

Their sharp tusks swept through the ground, shattering even hard bluestone. Wherever they passed, the ground was left in ruins and trees snapped apart...

Whoosh—

A low sound of wind splitting rang out.

One of the Crimson Blood Boars seemed to sense danger. It raised its head and saw Qing Luo shooting toward it from the forest.

Roar—

A deep roar sounded.

Dirt flew everywhere as the Crimson Blood Boar charged at Qing Luo with overwhelming force.

"Beast!"

Qing Luo's eyes were filled with disdain as he clenched his right fist and smashed it fiercely into the Crimson Blood Boar's brow.

Boom—

Terrifying shockwaves blasted outward.

The rhinoceros-like Crimson Blood Boar was sent flying, smashing through ancient trees behind it.

The madness in the Crimson Blood Boar's eyes turned to terror.

Its four limbs flailed wildly in the dirt.

"Die!"

Qing Luo gave a low shout. A faint white glow appeared in his right palm as he chopped down at the Crimson Blood Boar.

Crack—

The sound of bones breaking rang out. The Crimson Blood Boar's eyes filled with blood, and it fell stiffly into the forest.

The Azure Sky Glazed Art inherently had body-tempering effects.

Now that Qing Luo had entered the Spirit Wheel Realm, he did not need to use a Spiritual Art to kill Spirit Beasts of this level.

The Crimson Blood Boar was simply thick-skinned and tough-fleshed.

Had it been another type of Spirit Beast, Qing Luo's first punch would have been enough to kill it!

Roar—

At that moment, the other Crimson Blood Boar in the distance noticed Qing Luo and charged toward him as well.

Qing Luo activated his Double Pupils and found the Crimson Blood Boar's weakness.

He clenched his right fist and smashed it fiercely toward the Crimson Blood Boar's jaw.

Boom—

Qing Luo's fist struck like rushing thunder. With a single punch, he killed the low-tier Spirit Beast comparable to the Spirit Movement Realm Late-stage outright!

Afterward,

Qing Luo collected the Spirit Souls of the two Crimson Blood Boars into the Mustard Seed Bracelet on his wrist and continued exploring deeper into the Northern Spirit Plains.

This Mustard Seed Bracelet

had been bought for Qing Luo with Tang Qian'er's help.

Mustard Seed Bracelets were extremely precious. With Azure Domain's connections and influence alone, it would have been impossible to find one within half a month.

Before entering the Northern Spirit Plains,

Qing Luo had already gathered information on several areas where Fire Spirit Apes were active around the outskirts.

As long as he searched according to those areas, he believed he would be able to find the Jade Spirit Tree.

If he truly could not find it,

Qing Luo planned to look for Mu Chen and the others. That was his last resort.

Jade Spirit Fruits would be of great use in increasing Qing Luo's strength. Unless absolutely necessary, he was unwilling to share them with others.

Meanwhile,

as the trial began, the disciples of Northern Spirit Academy entered the Northern Spirit Plains.

The Northern Spirit Plains, once quiet and desolate,

instantly became bustling. Especially around the outskirts, Northern Spirit Academy students could be seen moving about almost everywhere.

When facing these low-tier Spirit Beasts,

most Northern Spirit Academy students appeared extremely flustered and lacked actual combat experience.

Quite a few students had barely exchanged blows with Spirit Beasts

before being injured and forced to withdraw from the trial.

Among them,

the pair of Mu Chen and Tang Qian'er appeared rather relaxed.

For this trial,

while Tang Qian'er had been helping Qing Luo obtain the Mustard Seed Bracelet, she had also acquired a Low-grade Spirit Artifact long whip for herself.

As the fiery-red whip danced, scorching Spiritual Energy swept outward,

slightly warping the surrounding air with heat...

It showed no disadvantage whatsoever against the low-tier Spirit Beasts before them.

"Now!"

Smack—

Tang Qian'er swung the Low-grade Spirit Artifact in her hand and fiercely lashed it toward the low-tier Spirit Beast in front of her.

The terrifying scorching heat sent the Azure Spirit Fox before her flying into a deep pit. After letting out an unwilling wail, it died before Tang Qian'er.

Whew—

"Finally, it's dealt with!"

Looking at the Azure Spirit Fox, comparable to the Mid Spirit Movement Stage, that had died by her hand, Tang Qian'er revealed a delighted expression.

Though she had worn this Azure Spirit Fox down bit by bit until it died,

that was still her own strength.

Not long after she and Mu Chen entered, they had encountered two Azure Spirit Foxes.

"Mu Chen..."

Tang Qian'er thought of something and abruptly looked toward Mu Chen.

Then she saw

that Mu Chen had somehow already dealt with his Azure Spirit Fox and was leaning against a tree, watching her leisurely.

"When did you finish yours..."

"I finished long ago. It was just a low-tier Spirit Beast. Your weapon isn't bad. It's a Low-grade Spirit Artifact, right?"

Mu Chen walked up to Tang Qian'er and asked.

"Mm." Tang Qian'er nodded.

"You weren't decisive enough, and your moves were too messy. If you weren't holding a Low-grade Spirit Artifact, you wouldn't even have beaten that Spirit Beast. How are you supposed to protect me like that..."

Mu Chen teased.

"You... Who would have thought you'd be this strong?"

Tang Qian'er was somewhat helpless.

In just one month, Mu Chen had gone from having just broken through to the Spirit Movement Stage to becoming stronger than her...

It left Tang Qian'er's pride somewhat wounded.

"Alright, I was just joking. Did you really take it seriously? Put away the Spirit Soul."

"Although the two of us aren't on the same team... I'll still help you. At the very least, I won't let you look too bad when you hand over your Spirit Souls."

Mu Chen said with a smile.

"Alright!"

Tang Qian'er walked toward the Azure Spirit Fox.

Just as she was about to collect its Spirit Soul, an urgent commotion erupted from the forest.

The next moment,

an Azure Spirit Fox comparable to the Late Spirit Movement Stage suddenly sprang out from the woods and pounced toward the two of them.

"Beast, courting death!"

"Netherworld Death Seal!"

Boom—

Deep within the Northern Spirit Plains, terrifying shockwaves swept outward.

A Fire Spirit Ape comparable to the Peak Spirit Movement Stage was sent flying, smashing into a jagged rock wall as fragments of stone scattered everywhere.

Behind Qing Luo,

nearly twenty Fire Spirit Ape corpses like this lay strewn across the ground.

Ignoring the corpses,

Qing Luo took out the Route Map he had prepared in advance and marked one of the areas with a red X.

On the Route Map,

three such red marks had already been drawn...

"Looks like it's there."

Qing Luo looked at the final Fire Spirit Ape gathering point, a trace of helplessness flashing through his eyes.

One out of four,

and it had to be the last one. His luck really was terrible!

After confirming the direction,

Qing Luo stepped on Purple Qi and sped toward the final area.

Not long after,

Qing Luo arrived at the final area on the Route Map, already close to the depths of the Northern Spirit Plains.

Not far ahead lay a hidden valley,

from which sharp ape cries rang out.

With his Double Pupils activated, Qing Luo could see

a small tree at the end of the valley, its entire body white and lustrous as though carved from jade.

Amid its emerald-green leaves were hints of jade-like color.

Those were round fruits. Even from so far away, he could still smell their faint fragrance, which left him refreshed and at ease.

"Not too late..."

Seeing the Jade Spirit Fruits in the valley, the corners of Qing Luo's lips could not help but curl upward slightly.