Mu Chen

After Futu Yun exchanged for the Primordial Golden Crow Essence, he entered seclusion to cultivate, while Luo Li went to train in the Spirit Gathering Array.

This quiet girl possessed an extraordinary persistence when it came to cultivation.

Back in the Spirit Road, Futu Yun had rescued her from the hands of her enemies.

Perhaps those days they spent together had already left a faint stir in the girl's heart.

In a sense, it was the budding of a girl's affection for a boy.

An ordinary girl would likely have allowed that budding affection to quietly grow within her heart.

But Luo Li chose to directly attempt to assassinate Futu Yun, hoping to erase that stir from her heart completely.

In her view, allowing such emotions to grow would only hinder her cultivation and disrupt her state of mind.

Thus, despite the struggle filling her heart, her devotion to cultivation ultimately gained the upper hand.

And so came that long pursuit that lasted nearly half a year.

Luo Li was naturally composed, her heart always seeming detached from the world as she quietly observed it from the perspective of a bystander.

Yet no matter how much she restrained herself, she was still a girl in the end.

When she developed such feelings for a boy, many things had already quietly slipped beyond her control.

Only when she pressed her longsword against Futu Yun's throat did she suddenly realize:

The budding affection she had suppressed within her heart had unknowingly broken free from her restraints during the pursuit.

It had transformed into a faint tenderness that spread throughout her heart.

Luo Li's feelings for Futu Yun were much like her feelings for Mu Chen in the original story.

Because Futu Yun had completely copied the script of the original protagonist, Mu Chen.

But precisely because Futu Yun was merely copying the script,

his feelings for Luo Li were far less profound than Mu Chen's had been in the original story.

At most, it was only a trace of fondness—vague attraction without deep affection.

As for Mu Chen, whose place had been stolen by him, he had now joined the Holy Spiritual Academy, one of the Five Great Academies.

The person who should have stood in direct opposition to Ji Xuan in the original story had instead become Ji Xuan's underling.

A Heaven-Tier Spirit Beast Devouring Mountain Python's essence,

together with the Quasi-Divine Spiritual Art that complemented it, the "Devouring Mountain Art,"

allowed Mu Chen to enter the Fusion Heaven Realm in a short time.

Money lost could be earned again. Lose one's pride, and one could earn even more.

It was truly ironic.

Although Mu Chen had lost the opportunities that originally belonged to him in the original story,

his talent was still there. As a result, he had caught Ji Xuan's ride, and his cultivation speed was even faster than it had been in the original story.

However, good times did not last. The expert backing Ji Xuan noticed something unusual about Mu Chen:

Although Mu Chen had not cultivated the Great Pagoda Art again, the aura left behind from his previous cultivation had not dissipated.

Especially at the instant he broke through to the Fusion Heaven Realm and merged with heaven and earth, that aura became even harder to conceal.

Ji Xuan's protector had happened to deal with members of the Pagoda Ancient Clan before and recognized the origin of that aura.

He therefore passed Mu Chen's information on to the clan's higher-ups.

Meanwhile, within the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, Futu Yun and Luo Li also took part in the freshmen assembly.

As expected, they entered the top five.

They earned a large amount of Spiritual Value and also obtained an opportunity to enter the Spiritual Arts Hall and choose a Spiritual Art.

This time, Futu Yun chose the "Myriad Thunder Sword Control Art."

It was a low-grade Divine Spiritual Art for offense, created by a Sovereign expert, and it was priced at three million Spiritual Value in the Spiritual Value Hall.

However, Futu Yun had little interest in this Spiritual Art and directly gave it to Luo Li.

After all, Luo Li herself used a sword.

Moreover, she always carried the Luo God Sword on her back.

Afterward, Futu Yun also arranged for Luo Li to have the privilege of entering the Thunder Realm for free.

Luo Li then went to the Thunder Realm to cultivate this lightning-attribute sword art.

When Futu Yun returned to his dormitory, he looked somewhat surprised at Su Ling'er, who was waiting outside the door. "What is it?"

The girl held her small hands behind her back, her pretty face filled with a radiant smile. "There really is something good I came to see you about."

"Come with me? My sister wants to meet you."

"Your sister? Su Xuan?"

Some time ago, Futu Yun had suppressed a group of Fusion Heaven Realm experts with his Peak Divine Soul Stage cultivation.

Even Li Xuantong, who ranked second on the Sky Ranking, had been shocked and did not dare act rashly.

Su Xuan was also surprised when she received the news. Didn't her mission happen to be short on manpower?

After thinking it over, she felt she could consider inviting Futu Yun. It would also give her younger sister a chance to reconcile with him.

The Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy had a Mission Hall that issued all sorts of missions, with rewards given upon completion.

Missions were roughly divided into three ranks: heaven, earth, and human.

Heaven-rank missions were already considered high-level missions.

Not only did they demand strength, they also required students to possess sufficient qualifications.

A freshman like Futu Yun, even if he met the strength requirement, was not qualified to accept one alone.

Therefore, he could only participate alongside Su Xuan.

Although this mission carried considerable risks, its rewards were extremely generous.

So long as Su Xuan called for recruits, many powerful students would certainly rush to join.

Su Xuan was indeed doing this to help her younger sister reconcile with Futu Yun.

Futu Yun was somewhat surprised as well. He had indeed planned to go there.

But it was not to complete the mission. He intended to seize the opportunity there using his memories of the original story.

That was precisely why he had deliberately not competed for the spiritual lotus seeds of the Heavenly Spirit Lotus, nor had he helped Su Ling'er seize them.

In the original story, Su Ling'er had invited Mu Chen precisely because he helped her seize a spiritual lotus seed.

Yet he never expected that, despite not competing for one, he would still receive an invitation in the end.

Futu Yun followed Su Ling'er to the sisters' dormitory.

He looked at this woman whose beauty was renowned throughout the academy:

Her white gown outlined her exquisite, full figure.

Her long hair was black like a cascading waterfall, and her gentle temperament made her especially captivating.

"This heaven-rank mission is limited to five people. We already have four;"

"If we complete the mission successfully, each person will receive one and a half million Spiritual Value."

This was only a low-grade heaven-rank mission.

For a high-grade heaven-rank mission, the maximum reward could even reach eight million.

However, over all these years,

only Shen Cangsheng, who ranked first on the Sky Ranking, had ever completed a mission of that level.

Furthermore, the heaven-rank mission Su Xuan had accepted was somewhat special.

It was neither a pursuit nor a manhunt, but a Spiritual Treasury mission.

Simply put, it was an exploration of a leftover cave residence.

Generally speaking, such cave residences contained Spiritual Arts, spiritual artifacts, and all sorts of precious materials left behind by their former owners.

The gains did not need to be handed over to the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy and could directly belong to the participants.

For this reason, Spiritual Treasury missions were the most popular at the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy.

To put it bluntly, students used information gathered by the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy to go claim the rewards for themselves.

"White Dragon Hill, huh?" Since Su Xuan had taken the initiative to invite him, Futu Yun saw no need to refuse.

He simply revealed the information he knew.

"Although the mission is marked as the Heaven-reaching Spirit Treasury, White Dragon Hill was once home to a White Dragon Sovereign."

"He died here, but no one has ever found the place where he fell."

"Now that a Spiritual Treasury has emerged in this place, there is a strong chance it was left behind by the White Dragon Sovereign."

"Wouldn't that make it a Sovereign Spiritual Treasury?" Su Ling'er's expression changed.

A Spiritual Treasury of that level was enough to draw the covetous eyes of countless factions. It could not possibly be considered a low-grade heaven-rank mission.