Schrödinger's Earth Sovereign, Retreat as Advance

"Mu Chen, the young prince of the Hundred Spirits Royal Clan."

"His father, the Hundred Spirits King Mu Feng, is a high-grade Sovereign? The master of the Hundred Spirit Continent?"

The Heaven-Treading Realm powerhouses from the Five Great Academies all felt this was quite a thorny issue.

Above the Three Heavens Realm lies the Sovereign domain.

Sovereigns are divided into nine grades, and the seventh-grade Hundred Spirits King is undeniably a high-grade Sovereign.

The masters of the Five Great Academies are generally around the fifth grade, each with varying levels of strength.

The master of the Holy Spirit Academy, Dean Tiansheng, might be slightly stronger, approaching the sixth grade.

Although each of the Five Great Academies is guarded by an ancient divine beast comparable to—or approaching—an Earth Sovereign, and even vaguely backed by the shadows of true super-forces.

However, a background is only called a background precisely because it is not one's own power.

Unless the Five Great Academies face life-or-death destruction, the super-forces that stand behind them in the shadows will never mobilize.

Heaven Sovereigns are all super-powerhouses who guard a corner of the Great Thousand World.

Furthermore, the divine beasts that guard each academy are Earth Sovereign titans.

Strong as they are, they are either sleeping to purify their bloodlines, in closed-door cultivation, traveling abroad, or playing among the mortals; most of the time, they are not in the academy and have no time to deal with trivial matters.

Such human-shaped nuclear weapons usually do not move easily.

It is like two modern nations: if I harass your border, you might mobilize troops to counterattack, but you wouldn't just "boom" and drop a nuclear bomb.

Therefore, the attitude of the Five Great Academies toward large forces in their vicinity guarded by high-grade Sovereigns is generally one of appropriate respect, avoiding provocation, and peaceful coexistence.

Daily disputes are at most a matter of bickering and verbal sparring.

But if you are blind enough to provoke us, I will summon the divine beast to trample your face.

For example, when Dean Tiansheng wanted to recruit Ji Xuan, he personally visited a large clan in the Southern Border guarded by a high-grade Sovereign, extending an invitation and giving the clan's ancestor full face.

He did not rely on the Holy Spirit Academy's ancient divine beast to make unreasonable demands.

The seventh-grade Sovereign, the Hundred Spirits King, is even stronger than the masters of the Five Great Academies.

Yet, the five Sovereign powerhouses were not concerned with these things.

There was a change in power within the Hundred Spirit Continent, and there were suspected clashes between Earth Sovereign powerhouses.

In other words, it is highly likely that an Earth Sovereign stands behind the Hundred Spirits Royal Clan.

As for whether the expulsion of the son of the Northern Profound Sect's master, Qin Beixuan, involved a power struggle at the Heaven Sovereign level, everyone just laughed it off.

Think about it, even our dignified Five Great Academies cannot mobilize power of that level; what right or ability does a mere local king entrenched in a remote backwater have?

If such a person truly existed, you wouldn't be occupying only a single high-grade continent.

"You said it yourself, it's only suspected."

"This titan has never appeared in public, nor is there any evidence to prove their existence; it is entirely a fantasy."

"Perhaps it is just a tiger skin the Hundred Spirits Royal Clan has draped over themselves for self-preservation, deliberately releasing ambiguous news that is hard to distinguish as true or false to bluff."

"Are the Five Great Academies supposed to back down because of an unverified titan?"

The man in white argued with a cold attitude, remaining unmoved.

There were some things he did not say completely.

Even if they did exist, so what?

Although the Five Great Academies compete, struggle, and even compromise with each other internally.

Externally, they have always advanced and retreated together, sharing the same roots and branches; if one prospers, all prosper; if one suffers, all suffer.

A single Earth Sovereign cannot shake the foundations of the Five Great Academies.

Furthermore, the Five Great Academies have a history spanning ten thousand years, tracing back even to the ancient catastrophe.

The strength of an academy has never lain in its surface power, but in the terrifying network of connections and deeper-level power accumulated over long ages.

As time turns, countless new students enroll, and countless old students depart.

Perhaps a Sovereign, an Earth Sovereign, or even a Heaven Sovereign who appears only in a flash, might be born.

These powerhouses who walked out of the academy cherish their old ties; they may rarely keep in touch, but once their alma mater faces life-or-death destruction, they will certainly not sit idly by and will display their great power.

When these surging torrents gather together, even eternal super-forces would be moved.

"That makes sense; we can stop talking about the Hundred Spirits Royal Clan's dubious background."

"Let's just talk about the Hundred Spirits King Mu Feng. Should we give this high-grade Sovereign face, or should we directly expel his offspring from the Spirit Road?"

Zhu Tian smiled, looking like someone who had successfully stolen a chicken.

The Earth Sovereign behind the Hundred Spirits Royal Clan is like Schrödinger's cat, or an elephant in the room—impossible to confirm, yet impossible to ignore.

Whenever they encounter matters involving the Hundred Spirits Royal Clan, even if they don't say it aloud, they will surely, intentionally or unintentionally, raise their hands high and let the matter go lightly.

The Hundred Spirits King, this high-grade Sovereign, has a cultivation level even higher than the masters of the Five Great Academies.

Yet the majesty of the Five Great Academies could not be offended.

Since the decision to punish Mu Chen had already been made, if they were to revoke it due to his background, where would the face of the Great Thousand's five strongest academies go?

If it could not be revoked, it could only be reduced.

And so, the punishment for Mu Chen went on a rollercoaster, dropping lower and lower.

From execution to expulsion, and from expulsion to stripping him of three levels of his Spiritual Body.

"We shall now begin the vote. My Holy Spirit Academy agrees to the punishment for Mu Chen!"

The man in white had an uncertain expression as he spoke in a deep voice.

"My Azure Heaven Spiritual Academy agrees as well!"

"Wu Ling Academy seconds the motion!"

"Ten Thousand Phoenix Spiritual Academy agrees."

"Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy agrees!"

Following this, a rare scene of harmony unfolded within the ancient hall.

Even Zhu Tian cast a vote in favor.

Facing the Holy Spirit Academy, the head of the Five Great Academies, this old grumbler felt he had done his best. To remain stubborn would only be counterproductive, so he simply went with the flow.

It was true that many of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy's designated elites had died at Mu Chen's hands.

Yet in Zhu Tian's view, the lives of a hundred kings would be worth it to secure someone like Mu Chen.

It was true that Northern Heavens had contacted Bing Qing of the Ice Spirit Clan and Mu Kui of the Wood Spirit Clan, but all five academies had been making private contact, striving to win them over.

The two had been ambiguous and coy, waiting for the highest bidder, which was truly infuriating.

If he told Mu Chen about today's events, he didn't believe he couldn't win over this heir of the Hundred Spirits Royal Clan. To gain a peerless king without losing a single soldier—wouldn't that be sweet?

With Mu Chen in his grasp, the more Zhu Tian looked at Yang Hong, the more displeased he became.

Hmm, should he discuss with the Dean whether to return this guy?

Watching the smug Zhu Tian, the man in white curled his lips in a sneer.

Naive. Old ghost Zhu Tian, do you really think Northern Heavens won this round?

Ever since the conflict between Mu Chen and Ji Xuan, the Holy Spirit Academy had secretly begun investigating the boy's background, acting even faster and earlier than Northern Heavens.

Once they had grasped the strength of the Hundred Spirits Royal Clan, the handling of Mu Chen had already been set in stone.

The previous demands for execution and expulsion were two retreats, weren't they? All for the sake of this final advance: retreating to advance, successfully stripping him of three levels of his Spiritual Body.

With three levels of his Spiritual Body stripped away, the benefits Mu Chen gained from the Spiritual Road Plane baptism would likely be inferior even to an ordinary quasi-king. He would only be left far behind by Ji Xuan, falling into the dust.

Above an unnamed mountain range in the Spiritual Road Plane.

Wu Tian, an elder of the Wu Ling Academy at the Heaven-Connecting Stage, had the phantom of the artifact Mirror of Judgment hovering above his head. His ears twitched, and the artifact suddenly turned respectful, as if it had received an order.

He slowly ascended into the air, his spiritual energy surging as his chest hummed with a resonant sound:

"Gentlemen, I shall now announce the Five Great Academies' decision regarding this matter."

ps: Schrödinger's cat, the elephant in the room—does anyone know what these mean?

100,000 words already; time flies so fast. I wonder how far this will go in the end.