Spirit Road, Open!

The divine artifact went on strike, and all living beings were filled with trepidation.

"Hum. Whoosh!"

It was at this very moment that countless starlight flickered across the surface of Mu Chen's body. Reflecting off his limbs and torso, he appeared like a crystalline, translucent divine body of starlight, flawless and pure.

Billions of strands of starlight surged violently, eventually condensing into a thick, heaven-piercing pillar of light that shot upward, heading straight for the Mirror of Judgment hanging high above in the nine heavens.

Everyone subconsciously squinted, for the starlight was far too intense.

It erupted from the crown of the young man's head, piercing through heaven and earth, and shot into the mirror at the speed of light.

"Clang, clang, clang!"

In the sky, the gargantuan ancient bronze mirror, once struck, trembled incessantly while bathed in the divine brilliance, emitting an ancient, bell-like roar.

The booming sound was resonant and melodious, lingering without end.

Stimulated by this, the ancient bronze mirror, which had been stalled and on strike, gradually calmed down. It pulled more starlight from the depths of the void, raining it down upon the figure below, enveloping him completely.

The astonishment on the people's faces gradually transformed into profound shock.

Seeing this, how could they not understand what Mu Chen was trying to do?

He was single-handedly forcing a connection with the supreme divine artifact of the Five Great Academies!

The handsome young man's body rose bit by bit, lifting off the ground to hover in mid-air.

His eyes were slightly closed, his limbs stretched out, and his black hair fluttered.

The corners of his mouth curled up slightly into a warm, heart-melting smile.

Mirror of Judgment, if you will not come to me, then I shall come to you!

"The essence pierces the morning sun, holding the rhythm of the gate, the spirit soaring beyond the heavens."

"The Royal Heir. His Highness the Royal Heir is going to defy the heavens!"

The white-haired Old Dean trembled slightly, his face flushed with excitement.

A moment later, he plopped back into his seat, feeling limp. Every pore on his body opened up, as comfortable and clear as if he had consumed thirty-six ginseng fruits.

It was settled; this time, it was truly settled!

In a sense, the distance the starlight traveled away from the body directly reflected a living being's aptitude, or rather, their cultivation talent, which determined how far they could go in the future.

For someone like Liu Yang of the Liu family, the starlight only left his body by a dozen or so meters.

His older brother, Liu Mubai, once hailed as the number one cultivation talent of his generation in the Northern Spiritual Realm and a top-three existence in the Heaven Tier, only managed to project his starlight sixty meters.

Yet, the Royal Heir of the Hundred Spirits, Mu Chen, had billions of strands of starlight erupt from his crown, condensing into a heaven-piercing pillar that shot straight into the firmament, forcibly striking the Mirror of Judgment and awakening the divine artifact.

Visually, the pillar was at least eight hundred meters tall, nearing a thousand.

Without a doubt, this was a super cultivation genius, an unparalleled monster.

This academy has finally lived up to the trust placed in it by the King!

The preliminary selection had ended.

Aside from the Royal Heir Mu Chen, who was the best of the lot, seven or eight others persisted until the very last moment. Throughout the process, they were bathed in starlight, gaining immense benefits, cleansing their marrow, and purifying their bloodlines.

Luo Tong, Lie Jiu, Tang Qian'er, Hong Ling, and Liu Mubai.

Almost all of them were the descendants of the continent's elite, with fathers in high positions of power, each a Supreme. Only those with nearly unlimited access to cultivation resources could stand out.

"Boom!"

Under the gaze of the masses, accompanied by an ancient bell toll that resonated across the world, the surface of the bronze mirror, which seemed to cover the entire sky, rippled slightly.

A gargantuan vertical eye manifested, indifferently overlooking the crowd below.

There, a group of chosen human geniuses stood side by side.

"In the name of my judgment, I grant you all the journey of the Spirit Road!"

The ancient and mysterious voice echoed majestically above the Northern Spiritual Academy, quickly spreading throughout the entire Hundred Spirits Capital and traveling across the entire continent at an incredible speed.

A mysterious beam of light shot out from the Mirror of Judgment, striking deep into the starry sky.

Vaguely, a strange half-plane hidden in the depths of the void was connected. The portal swung wide open, jointly controlled by the Five Great Academies, forcibly pierced through by the power of a supreme divine artifact.

It was a place where spiritual energy could not be used, devoid of battle energy or elemental force—a place of extreme peculiarity.

The starlight fell, condensing into a Starry Sky Gate that propped up the heavens. Gorgeous and dazzling, ancient and mysterious, it opened with a rumble under the gaze of all.

Behind the gate, where the void channel led, what kind of world awaited?

"The Spirit Road, a path destined to be filled with thorns and murderous intent. A path of glory. Advance and live, retreat and die. Only the brave can march forward with a song."

A sentimental instructor of the spiritual academy sighed softly.

"Let's go!"

Mu Chen, with a calm demeanor, walked at the very front of the line without hesitation.

Following his command, the human geniuses followed the Royal Heir in a steady stream, diving headlong into the vortex of the Starry Sky Gate and vanishing from this world.

There were no farewells, no sorrow of parting, and certainly no sentimentality; instead, there was an unusual sense of liberation.

The sons and daughters of the Great Thousand World are bold and hot-blooded; where would they find the time for such lingering romantic attachments?

The time window to enter the Starry Sky Gate lasted only a few short breaths.

To not enter was to be considered as having voluntarily forfeited this extremely precious opportunity.

The next moment, the supreme divine artifact of the Five Great Academies, the Mirror of Judgment, also faded away.

It transformed into a speck of void dust, vanishing into the depths of the starry sky as the rift closed shut.

Within the Northern Spiritual Academy, the swarming crowds gradually dispersed.

"A-Jing, our son has finally taken the first step of his expedition across the Great Thousand World."

Inside the Hundred Spirits Palace, a lonely king withdrew his gaze and spoke these words.

The feast had come to an end.

Stars shifted and time flowed rapidly.

Mu Chen did not know how long his consciousness had remained in a daze within the void passage; perhaps it was only a few breaths, or perhaps it had been days and nights. He only felt his body sink, and then he landed.

The heavy sensation beneath his feet and the fragrance of soil wafting into his nostrils convinced him that he had reached his destination and was standing on solid ground.

He opened his eyes bit by bit, adjusting to the light.

What met his gaze were endless towering ancient trees, a boundless sea of green forest, scattered strange rocks and boulders, and the distant roars of beasts—wild, archaic, and ancient.

"This is the Spiritual Road Plane."

A flicker of realization surfaced in Mu Chen's heart as he quickly observed his surroundings to assess the situation.

He was in a primeval forest, and the number of spirit beasts was unknown.

The sun had just risen from the horizon on his right, so he was roughly facing north.

There were no companions by his side, which meant the Mirror of Judgment deployed living beings randomly.

"Right, my spiritual energy."

Mu Chen instinctively circulated the Ancient God Canon, only to find that, just as the rumors outside had claimed, he could not sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth at all; it was as if it had vanished into thin air.

Even when he used his innately powerful soul force to look inward, his dantian was completely empty, and even the mysterious light tower condensed from his Pagoda Divine Power was nowhere to be seen.

The light tower was illusory to begin with and could collapse at any time; it simply could not withstand the laws of this plane.

This world was permeated by an omnipresent force of law that suppressed the spiritual energy and fields of all living beings; neither humans nor spirit beasts could utilize their power.

The only things one could rely on were physical strength and wisdom.

Mu Chen's eyes flickered as he carefully weighed the gains and losses.

In the Great Thousand World, spiritual energy was the fundamental tone, and thousands of professions had developed to their peak, creating unprecedented prosperity: Spirit Array Master, Spirit Insect Master, Spirit Alchemist, and Spirit Tool Master.

Martial artists who fought with spiritual energy were merely the most mainstream profession.

The Spiritual Road Plane sealed off spiritual energy, which was equivalent to cutting off all paths at the source.

This meant that Mu Chen's status as a first-rank Spirit Array Master was equally useless.

What his mother had left behind when she departed was the treasury of a Grandmaster of Spirit Arrays, which had helped him embark on the path of a Spirit Array Master.

PS: Yuan Zun has concluded; my youth is over.

Let me drop some spoilers: the ending links up with The Great Ruler; they share the same worldview.

The big boss, the Son of the Saint God, is the Heavenly Evil God who escaped.

The Heavenly Source World and the Great Thousand World exist in the same universe, and the God-level of the Heavenly Source is equivalent to the Ruler-level of the Great Thousand.

Essentially, Zhou Yuan attained the Dao tens of thousands of years earlier than the Flame Emperor, the Martial Ancestor, and Mu Chen, making him their senior.

Also, it's another single-heroine story, you bastard! What kind of real man just flirts without marrying!