Black Demon Forest, Battlefield

The dark hand behind the scenes, orchestrating a series of assassinations, was none other than Ji Xuan of the Ji Clan, known as King Xuan, who had been personally handpicked by the upper echelons of the Holy Spirit Academy.

After extracting the desired answers through interrogation, the two exchanged a look.

As for Wang Ze, who could not escape the law of "true fragrance," he was finished off with a clean, swift strike from Mu Chen's staff, which could be considered a quick end.

Mu Chen cast an inquiring look at his companion, "Do you know Ji Xuan?"

"If you mean that incredibly narcissistic fellow, then yes, I suppose I do."

The girl in the black dress nodded slightly, tucking a stray lock of silver hair behind her ear. Her expression remained unchanged on her beautiful face.

Neither of them were ordinary people, nor were they the type of obsessive lovers who spent their days wallowing in suspicion and petty jealousy.

They were always direct and straightforward, speaking their minds whenever they felt something.

Open and honest, never coy.

To be fair, Luo Li quite liked this natural and comfortable way of interacting.

The silver-haired girl looked at Mu Chen's expression and began to recall the past.

This pride of the Ji Clan, who had lived under the gaze of his peers since childhood, always bathed in glory and success, had encountered the greatest setback of his life the moment he met Luo Li.

He had deliberately manufactured encounters, displaying his excellence like a peacock fanning its tail, acting as heroic as possible, yet he couldn't even earn a single glance from the girl; she ignored him completely.

This extreme sense of defeat and the sharp contrast might have been the primary catalyst for Ji Xuan turning to extremes and choosing to target Mu Chen.

After all, before this, Mu Chen and Ji Xuan had never even crossed paths.

In comparison, her other pursuers, such as Li Xuantong, were much more restrained.

Of course, regarding childhood playmates like Li Xuantong, Luo Li at most regarded him as a neighbor's older brother—the kind she hadn't seen in years and whose face she was beginning to forget.

"I apologize. This matter started because of me, and it should be resolved by me personally."

For a moment, the silver-haired girl, bearing a divine artifact, felt a surge of killing intent.

Anyone who dared to disturb her time with Mu Chen had to die!

"No, a man's business should be handled by a man."

Mu Chen's gaze was deep. He rubbed the ancient battle staff in his hand and smiled brilliantly.

Luo Li nodded her head gently, "Alright, I'll listen to you."

The girl, wise since childhood, knew when to be soft and when to be firm.

The art of love lies in the subtlety of one's heart.

The counterattack from Mu Chen and his companion was exceptionally swift and fierce.

Within a few short days, Mu Chen and Luo Li joined forces to uproot five of Ji Xuan's strongholds, killing twenty-seven of his followers and leaving countless others wounded.

On one occasion, they even nearly cornered Ji Xuan in a valley to finish him off.

For a time, heads rolled and blood flowed.

Ji Xuan was furious. When had anyone ever managed to infiltrate his lair?

In his rage, he summoned all his subordinates and contacted other King-tier figures who held grudges against Mu Chen, such as the Twin Kings of the Shi Family, gathering a coalition of two to three hundred people.

The two sides clashed on the outskirts of the central Sanctuary, fighting from north to south, then from west to east. The battle lasted for over half a month, with both sides trading blows and claiming victories.

Of course, the latter description was mostly Ji Xuan's side trying to save face.

The combat power of Mu Chen and Luo Li was enough to rank in the top three among the kings of the Spirit Road, and with their elusive movements, the opposition was completely baffled.

Since the start of the war, it had been a one-sided attrition for the alliance.

As the fighting intensified, the attention of most of the Spirit Road was drawn to the warring parties, and people consciously began to gather in the surrounding areas.

The Black Demon Forest is located at the intersection of the central and eastern territories.

The mountain range stretches for over a thousand miles, winding and undulating, shrouded in mist and miasma year-round.

Furthermore, it is infested with poisonous insects and ferocious beasts, including high-level spirit beasts capable of battling human Spirit Soul stage warriors, making it a truly terrifying forbidden zone.

Even seventh or eighth-level King-tier figures would not easily step into such a dangerous place.

Yet recently, people from all walks of life had arrived upon hearing the news, swarming from all directions to the site of the final showdown between Mu Chen and Ji Xuan, making the area incredibly lively.

The clamor of the crowds and the continuous roars of beasts meant the mountains were no longer silent.

"Look, Quasi-King Fang Zhong has arrived."

"The three kings have come together: King Yan, Yan Xiao; King Yan, Yan Ling; and King Zhou, Zhou Ling."

"Who is that..."

In the vast clearing, amidst the dense sea of people, exclamations erupted from time to time.

Figures of King-tier status, rarely seen on ordinary days, appeared now like a revolving lantern.

Those qualified to participate in the Spirit Road selection by the Mirror of Judgment were all renowned geniuses of the human race, rising stars who could be called the cream of the crop.

Yet, the number of Kings born from the hundred thousand youths of the Spirit Road barely reached a hundred.

Of course, the hundred thousand Spirit Road youths was merely a vague figure.

Wherever there were Spirit Academies, the traces of the Five Great Academies could be found.

In every past Spirit Road selection, the Five Great Academies would jointly activate the ultimate divine artifact, the Mirror of Judgment, to carefully select candidates from the trillions of people in the Great Thousand World, totaling at least two to three hundred thousand participants.

However, after a brutal two-year trial akin to raising venomous insects, the number of survivors was only a little over ten thousand, less than twenty thousand, each one an elite.

The seven or eight thousand people gathered in the outer region of the Black Demon Forest had undoubtedly attracted the gaze of most of the Spirit Road; it was truly unprecedented and unparalleled.

"The Wu Clan siblings have arrived."

"I heard that their father holds a high-ranking position within the Five Great Academies."

Two figures emerged, standing atop the crown of an ancient tree that offered a commanding view.

One of them was Wu Yingying, who had previously crossed paths with Mu Chen.

The young girl possessed a fair and pretty oval face, small and exquisite.

Her long, dark hair was skillfully braided into a long ponytail that hung down to her slender waist, swaying with the movements of her delicate body.

She wore a brightly colored red dress and carried a giant crescent blade that was completely disproportionate to her petite frame, creating a stark and striking contrast.

In short, she was a young girl with an exceptionally distinct personality.

Beside her stood a burly, long-armed man of older years.

His features bore a slight resemblance to the girl in the red dress, but his temperament was far more composed.

He was the eldest grandson of Heavenly King Wu, the biological brother of Wu Yingying, and Wu Ling, the successor unanimously recognized by the upper echelons of Wu Ling Academy as the next leader of their institution, possessing terrifying combat power.

"Wow, it's Mu Kui and Bing Qing. Could the simultaneous appearance of these two super-geniuses, both hailing from the Primordial Clan, be more than just a coincidence?"

From the Western Heavens and the Northern Heavens, two young Kings appeared almost simultaneously.

The person from the west was a young maiden in her prime with exquisite features and a tall stature.

She had extremely eye-catching ice-blue hair, and even her bright eyes shimmered with an eerie ice-blue luster, her aura frigid as if she were a ten-thousand-year-old iceberg.

As her beautiful eyes swept across the area, it was as if she could command all the cold energy between heaven and earth.

Bing Qing, hailing from the Ice Spirit Clan, a race born with the innate ability to master the power of ice.

As a Primordial Clan that had once produced a Saint-tier titan among its ancestors, though its foundation had plummeted over the ages, it still possessed giants at the Heavenly Sovereign level, and thus could not be underestimated.

ps: Some brothers left comments asking me to create character profiles to upload to some chronicle or other.

What is the point of this stuff? I feel like no one is interested. Should I do it?