Spirit Eye's Signal

In just one day of examinations, Li Mo had fully understood why the Advanced Study Hall had grouped first- and second-year disciples together.

Since entering the Enlightenment Hall of the Lingmu Sect during the Dragon Boat Festival in May, the first-year disciples had only cultivated for about ten months.

They had also had to learn all kinds of basic knowledge during that time, and hadn't received many cultivation resources. As a result, most of them were only at the second level of Qi Refining, and a few were still at the first.

At that level, after casting two or three low-grade beginner spells, their magic power would be completely spent.

Not to mention that some hadn't even mastered any spells.

If the first-years had been grouped together and outsiders had seen them flinging spells about wildly, even punching and kicking one another like villagers brawling, it would have been an ugly spectacle and a real blow to the sect's reputation.

But under the current arrangement, the ones who suffered the greatest losses weren't the unaffiliated disciples. They were the Aristocratic Clan disciples, whose foundations were comparatively stronger.

They could have achieved decent results among the first-years. Now, however, they could only compete for luck alongside unaffiliated disciples with weaker foundations. Quite a few powerful Aristocratic Clan disciples had fallen in the spell-dueling examinations on the first day, while some weak unaffiliated disciples had won by sheer luck.

After the midday meal.

Li Mo, Ma Ling, Niu Li, and Yang Guang returned to Sacred Tree Plaza and watched the third-year group's graduation examinations for a while.

Afterward, because of his injured spiritual sense, Li Mo returned to his room to rest early.

The next day.

Li Mo's mental state had improved somewhat. At least he no longer had to worry about fainting at any moment.

But he found that his magic power was recovering much more slowly than usual. It still hadn't fully recovered, which was clearly because his spiritual sense had been damaged.

Ma Ling, seeing this, actually looked delighted.

"That's great! I didn't dare tell you yesterday, but I heard that people who injure their souls slowly turn into lunatics. Since you're already starting to recover, you should be fine."

Li Mo first looked speechless, but then he began to take what she'd said seriously.

It wasn't just nonsense.

From a medical perspective, severe Wind Shock could indeed damage the mind, gradually turning someone into an idiot or a lunatic. It seemed that while the tribulations in the Mystic Dream were an opportunity, they also came with enormous risks.

He really needed to study the various methods for surviving tribulations recorded in the Mystic Box.

Li Mo had already formed a vague theory: every time he survived a tribulation in the Mystic Dream, he would spit something related out of his body.

It was probably a form of purification and expulsion.

To others, this seemed like a moment of enlightenment, but it definitely wasn't what people called enlightenment.

After all, enlightenment meant that, in an instant, someone drew together and transcended all they had experienced. It wasn't something as bizarre as spitting out an object completely unrelated to oneself.

This seemed to have something to do with the nature of the Mystic Dream.

What one thought of during the day, one dreamed of at night.

The things gained after a tribulation seemed to develop in that direction, rather than being random. This showed that the "storage device" inside the Mystic Dream must have many options. It was likely some kind of ancient object, something that modern cultivators couldn't understand. This had to do with how the Mystic Dream—or the Mystic Box—worked.

That was the result of Li Mo's best attempt to reason it out.

Unfortunately, he had too few clues and too limited an understanding, so that was all he could come up with for now.

As all kinds of thoughts churned in his mind, Li Mo, Ma Ling, Niu Li, and Yang Guang met up and went to the hall entrance to check the list of that day's spell-dueling matches.

As yesterday's losers, Ma Ling and Niu Li weren't on the list anymore.

Yang Guang was still in luck.

His opponent was Yang Zhiman—the scholar who had once rebuked Shi Yazhou and stood up for Zhao Huaxue, only to later be bullied by the Aristocratic Clan disciple Ye Xunhuan. Li Mo hadn't been there at the time.

Li Mo's opponent, meanwhile, was a disciple named Zhao Liang.

"Zhao Liang?"

"Never heard of him."

"Neither have I. Maybe he's a second-year disciple."

Li Mo's expression grew a little more serious.

After breakfast, the four of them went to Sacred Tree Plaza. It was still bustling with activity. They heard that the third-year disciples had fought until midnight before completing the first round.

Yang Guang was both excited and nervous.

"If I win one more match, I'll make the top two hundred!"

Ma Ling looked at Li Mo with concern. Since he hadn't said anything, she assumed that if he lost this match, he would have to compete in the losers' bracket. But in his current state—unable to fight at close range, unable to activate his spiritual sense, and recovering his magic power more slowly—there was no point in continuing. He could simply forfeit.

Boom!

Zhou Zheng was in the first spell-dueling match of the day, drawing quite a crowd.

His opponent was a second-year female cultivator. Li Mo, Ma Ling, Niu Li, and Yang Guang were all taken aback when the two of them stepped onto the stage and immediately brought out their magic artifacts.

Zhou Zheng's artifact was a folding fan. Every time he swept it forward with force, it sent out a transparent wind blade.

The female cultivator's artifact was a bronze gong. She struck it hard with a small mallet, unleashing sonic attacks. The two artifacts seemed evenly matched in power.

Between their attacks with the artifacts, the two also cast different spells at each other, dodging one another's attacks as they fought.

It had to be said: the mysteries of Zhou Zheng's Wind-Clearing Physique were truly endless.

His cultivation had reached the middle stage of the third level of Qi Refining, while the second-year female cultivator was at the middle stage of the fourth. Yet, with the various benefits granted by his Wind-Clearing Physique, he still seemed able to match her evenly.

Ma Ling whispered, "Look, that female cultivator has been holding a Spirit Stone and using it to recover her magic power ever since the fight started."

Yang Guang nodded thoughtfully.

"Zhou Zheng just swallowed a pill, too!"

The two fought fiercely for a full quarter of an incense stick. They even brought out Spirit Talismans along the way—a remarkable feat for first-year disciples. In the end, Zhou Zheng ran out of strength and was defeated by the second-year female disciple.

"Tsk, tsk."

Niu Li sighed. "He lost with honor, at least. Having a good master sure makes a difference."

The others below the stage were discussing the match as well.

After that, many of the first-year disciples who had been counted on to be strong were defeated by second-years.

Then Jiang Sheng took the stage.

After several rounds of probing attacks, Jiang Sheng let out a mighty roar from inside the barrier.

A two-foot-long firebird soared into the air, spread its wings, and swooped toward the second-year female disciple. She dodged while casting a defensive spell.

But the firebird made a sharp turn and rose into the air again. It opened its beak and spat out two fireballs, disrupting the woman's escape routes before diving at her once more.

Boom!

Blazing light burst everywhere.

The female disciple's defensive spell was astonishingly powerful, barely holding back the firebird's self-destruction. But Jiang Sheng, standing at a distance, gave a loud shout, and a long flaming spear appeared in his hand.

It wasn't a magic artifact, but a spell.

He hurled the fire spear. It flew along its trajectory at incredible speed, vanishing almost instantly. The female disciple let out a terrified scream and was transported out of the barrier by an Evacuation Talisman amid the flames.

"Is that Jiang Sheng, the one with the Three Yang Physique?"

"The Jiang Family's True Yang Secret Technique really is extraordinary!"

Many second-year disciples watching the match wore astonished expressions as well.

With his powerful fire-attribute spells, Jiang Sheng had decisively defeated the second-year female disciple without either of them bringing out a magic artifact. The first-year Aristocratic Clan disciples immediately perked up, greatly encouraged.

Although the second-year female disciple wasn't particularly strong, being only at the peak of the third level of Qi Refining, everyone believed Jiang Sheng still had tricks up his sleeve.

At the very least, he must have a magic artifact on him.

The Aristocratic Clan disciples celebrated Jiang Sheng's return from victory with great enthusiasm.

Even Li Mo, Ma Ling, Niu Li, and Yang Guang, watching from below, couldn't help marveling at Jiang Sheng. They guessed he might have already reached the fourth level of Qi Refining, but simply hadn't fully circulated his magic power yet.

Li Mo glanced at the cloud-bun-haired female cultivator standing intimately beside Jiang Sheng. He guessed she must be Chen Lan of the Chen Family, a major-clan disciple he'd never met before, who was devoted to Jiang Sheng.

"By the way, why haven't we seen that young lady from the Ye Family?"

"You mean Ye Yimeng?"

Yang Guang smiled smugly. "I saw her yesterday. When it was almost her turn to go up, Hall Master Ye personally brought her over. You were all so engrossed in watching the third-year group that you missed her. Tsk, what a pity."

Li Mo frowned.

"Is she even stronger than Jiang Sheng?"

"She's pretty strong, but she didn't seem quite as absurdly powerful as Jiang Sheng. She probably doesn't have a special physique. Her magic power seemed very deep; she cast several low- and mid-grade beginner spells without showing any signs of running out."

At that, Li Mo decided to keep a close eye on this mysterious young lady from the Ye Family that day.

Soon, it was Li Mo's turn to take the stage.

Zhao Liang looked like a rather gloomy and ruthless character. His face wore an arrogant, contemptuous expression as he coolly sized Li Mo up. Li Mo studied him in turn.

The moment the referee announced the start of the match, they both acted.

Li Mo cast the Thunder Slave summoning spell again and immediately ran out of strength. He staggered and took several steps backward. But what made his eyelid twitch was Zhao Liang bringing out a flying knife and slashing it at the Thunder Slave in midair.

Boom!

The Thunder Slave nimbly dodged the flying knife's strike and continued charging at Zhao Liang.

Zhao Liang sneered. He formed hand seals and sent the flying knife soaring again—but this time, it flew toward Li Mo. At the same time, he made a light leap backward and cast the Light Body Technique on himself, letting him hang in the air briefly like a falling leaf.

Li Mo took a deep breath, as if forcing himself to stay alert.

Light flashed in his hand, and he cast Palm Lightning, but the lightning flickered erratically and seemed extremely unstable.

"Five breaths is my limit. I can't hold on any longer."

As the flying knife came at him, dropping from the sky like a headsman's blade, Li Mo shouted and dodged it using his martial arts footwork. The intense movement made the veins on his forehead stand out, and his lips turned pale.

Li Mo knew he couldn't let the fight drag on.

After hesitating briefly over whether to aim his Palm Lightning at the flying knife or Zhao Liang, he finally targeted Zhao Liang. Drawing in a sharp breath, he gripped the Palm Lightning and charged toward Zhao Liang at full speed.

He was staking everything on a single strike, determined to win with one blow.

Zhao Liang seemed to have seen through Li Mo's intentions, and the sneer at his lips deepened.

As Li Mo and the Thunder Slave bore down on him from either side, Zhao Liang formed hand seals. A vast sandstorm suddenly swirled around him. Li Mo staggered and lost his bearings, unable to find his target. He reacted instinctively, planning to leave the sandstorm first and regroup. He was pushing his weakened body to its absolute limit.

Yet before he had taken two steps, the space around him suddenly twisted, and he was transported out of the barrier.

Li Mo came to and stared blankly at the arena inside the barrier.

Only then did he realize that Zhao Liang's flying knife had just ambushed him.

Zhao Liang still stood at the center of the arena. The sandstorm vanished almost at once. After retrieving his flying knife, he pointed to his eyes with the index and middle fingers of his right hand, in Li Mo's direction.

Still wearing that signature, swaggering grin, Zhao Liang turned and left the arena.

"Spirit Eye?"

Li Mo's expression was somewhat troubled, but he also felt grateful to Zhao Liang.

In the emergency just now, he'd actually forgotten about the Lingmu Sect's signature spell. Otherwise, even if he'd still lost, he should have been able to spot the flying knife's ambush in the sandstorm.

But he really had reached his limit. Ma Ling, Niu Li, and Yang Guang hurried over to help him up.

"Impressive!"

Wang Feng walked over with Zhu Yidan, looking surprised.

Li Mo smiled bitterly.

"I lost that quickly, so don't rub it in."

But Wang Feng said, "That was Zhao Liang! I heard he's already at the sixth level of Qi Refining, one of the strongest unaffiliated disciples among the second-years. I even spent ten Spirit Stones to learn a mid-grade beginner wind-attribute spell from him before. You made him use the Sandstorm Technique. That's already impressive."

"The sixth level of Qi Refining?"

Li Mo clicked his tongue, realizing why Zhao Liang had been so powerful. At the same time, he mocked himself for daring to entertain such wild hopes for so long just now.

He also envied Wang Feng.

That guy really knew how to throw money around. He'd actually been willing to spend ten Spirit Stones to learn a mid-grade beginner spell. The price Li Mo had agreed on with Shen Yun had been eight Spirit Stones, and later he'd spent only twelve to learn a high-grade beginner spell from Tian Fen.

He didn't know whether to call Wang Feng a sucker or simply marvel at his own good luck.