However, that little curse was nothing in front of Old Tang.
Golden light blossomed from Mu Chen's right hand, then quickly flowed into the carving knife.
Mu Chen stared unblinkingly at the carving knife in his hand as it changed at astonishing speed.
As if the lamp of life had been lit within it, its unpleasant dark green color rapidly turned into the emerald green that symbolized life.
The Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife was about to transform into the Life Blade.
In just a few breaths, the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife had taken on a completely different appearance.
It radiated emerald light and brimmed with vitality. How could anyone sense even a hint of a curse now?
This was what the carving knife was supposed to look like.
"Thanks, Old Tang."
"It was nothing."
"By the way, Old Tang, can you help me fuse this thing into my body?" The whole point of Mu Chen obtaining the Life Blade was to fuse with it, wasn't it?
He definitely couldn't act recklessly like the Golden Hawksbill. He'd ask Old Tang instead; he was sure to have a way.
"This object contains a surging force of life. Fusing with it will surely bring endless benefits. Leave it to me."
Mu Chen rejoiced inwardly. With Old Tang's help, fusing with the Life Blade would be a piece of cake.
"Now, place its tip against the center of your forehead."
Following Old Tang's instructions, Mu Chen pointed the Life Blade's tip at the space between his eyebrows.
A faint stinging sensation came from the Life Blade piercing his skin.
A gentle golden light shone at the center of Mu Chen's forehead, and the sting vanished instantly.
The Life Blade shot into the space between Mu Chen's eyebrows like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Inside Mu Chen's Sea of Consciousness, Old Tang looked at the Life Blade before him and waved a hand. A golden light enveloped it, then transformed into a green orb.
"Xiao Chen, you can head to Shrek Academy now. There isn't much time left."
"No rush." Mu Chen took out the map he'd bought earlier from his Soul Tool and looked toward a place on it: the Earth Dragon Sect in the Heaven Dou Empire.
While school hadn't started yet, Mu Chen wanted to claim all the opportunities from the original story that he could.
His next target was the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow at the Earth Dragon Sect.
It might not be of much use to him, but it would surely come in handy later when he tried to seize the opportunity involving the Ice and Snow Emperors.
With little time to spare, Mu Chen wasted no more time and set off at once for the Heaven Dou Empire.
The Earth Dragon Sect was in the north of the Heaven Dou Empire, and it would still take a while to get there from the Star Luo Empire.
Mu Chen traveled at full speed and finally arrived in Dragon City, where the Earth Dragon Sect was located, around noon a few days later.
The sect master of the Earth Dragon Sect was a Soul Douluo-level powerhouse. If Mu Chen wanted to sneak in, he had to scout the place in advance.
If necessary, Mu Chen could also ask Old Tang for help.
There was no time to waste. After half a day of scouting, Mu Chen set out that very night.
He bought a set of night clothes, committed the information from his scouting to memory, and quickly mapped out a route.
With Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track beneath his feet, Mu Chen entered the Earth Dragon Sect with ease.
To avoid being detected by spiritual power, Mu Chen had Old Tang put a layer of protection around him. With Old Tang's help, not even a Titled Douluo could detect him with spiritual power.
Following the original story's descriptions and the information he'd gathered while scouting, Mu Chen made his way deeper into the sect, step by step, until he found the well.
A large stone covered the well, and wisps of white vapor seeped through the gap between the stone and the rim.
As he approached the well, the temperature all around dropped considerably.
"Old Tang, it's freezing down there. Can you protect me?"
Mu Chen didn't think he could withstand Ultimate Ice.
As soon as he finished speaking, golden light enveloped his body, and a warm sensation spread through him.
Then the Life Blade flew out from the space between Mu Chen's eyebrows and hovered beside him, constantly supplying him with life force.
Mu Chen moved the stone aside and jumped straight in.
The bone-chilling water enveloped him, and the cold made his whole body shiver.
Fortunately, the layer of golden light Old Tang had released protected him. Mu Chen only felt cold; for the time being, the chill hadn't caused him any real harm.
As he swam farther down, it became clear that the bottom of the well concealed a hidden world.
Mu Chen found the opening and walked straight inside.
The sight within the cave left him stunned the moment he entered.
Ice-blue crystals covered the cave walls.
If Mu Chen remembered correctly, these had to be Ice Extreme Divine Crystals.
Some of the crystals seemed to have light flowing within them. Those must be the ones imbued with spirituality.
But the original story said that only Soul Power with the Ultimate Ice attribute could remove these crystals.
Mu Chen's Martial Soul didn't have the Ultimate Ice attribute. What was he supposed to do?
"Old Tang, these things need Ultimate Ice to be removed. Do you have any ideas?"
"Your Trident will do."
Mu Chen's companion Trident was an unawakened divine weapon. With a divine weapon in hand, it didn't matter that he lacked the Ultimate Ice attribute.
Mu Chen released his Martial Soul, and the Trident appeared in his hand.
Gripping the Trident with both hands, Mu Chen swung it hard at an Ice Extreme Divine Crystal.
To his surprise, the crystal came right off.
The whole process was unbelievably easy. Mu Chen barely had to exert any force; it was as easy as digging in dirt.
Seeing that it worked, Mu Chen immediately turned his attention to the other Ice Extreme Divine Crystals.
With the Trident in his hand, gathering the crystals was as easy as a fish swimming through water.
In just a few minutes, he had packed every last crystal into his Soul Tool.
These crystals were rare materials.
If Mu Chen ever became interested in working with Soul Tools, they would make excellent materials for crafting them.
Even if he didn't use them to craft Soul Tools, he could sell them for a sky-high price.
The Ice Extreme Divine Crystals imbued with spirituality in particular could be sold to those wealthy, high-ranking Soul Engineers, earning him a fortune.
"Next up, the Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow."
Mu Chen continued deeper into the cave.
At the very back, he finally found what he'd come for.
One after another, things resembling ice spikes hung from the cave walls.
Even from a dozen meters away, he could feel the incomparably rich heaven and earth energy of the ice attribute within them.
"I finally found it!"
Mu Chen took a rough look. There had to be dozens of pieces of Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow here. If he took them all, he'd have more than enough for his later attempt to seize the opportunity involving the Ice and Snow Emperors.
This time, Mu Chen didn't even need Old Tang to say anything. He grabbed the Trident and started hacking away.
It was just as easy as digging out the Ice Extreme Divine Crystals.
One piece after another of Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow went into Mu Chen's possession.
Looking at the pile of Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Marrow in his Soul Tool, Mu Chen wore the satisfied smile of a farmer surveying a bountiful harvest.
"All done. Time to go!"
The people of the Earth Dragon Sect still hadn't noticed him. He had to get out of there quickly.