He had been turned down.
Mu Chen stood where he was, watching Luo Li lower her eyes again, that cool aura around her silently rejecting anyone who came near. The faint smile on his face did not fade; instead, it grew a little sunnier.
Just as expected.
At this point, Luo Li's heart and mind were devoted entirely to cultivation, to the responsibility and legacy of the Luo God Clan she bore on her shoulders. She was still a girl untouched by the world's trials, so pure she bordered on stubborn.
Leaving an impression was enough for now.
Mu Chen left without pressing her, ignoring the gazes around him and all their various implications.
They would all be eliminated soon anyway. Let them enjoy themselves first.
Three days passed in a blink.
As the first light of dawn appeared, the bluestone square before the City Lord's Mansion was already packed.
More than a hundred youths stood quietly, no one speaking.
A taut, murderous tension hung in the air, like a bowstring drawn to its limit, waiting only for the instant it was released.
"It's time."
An instructor walked out slowly, sweeping his gaze over the crowd.
"Follow me."
There were no unnecessary instructions. He went straight to the point!
After entering the City Lord's Mansion, the group finally stopped before a great hall.
The hall was spacious and empty, its floor paved with dark blue-green crystals as smooth as mirrors.
At its center, a huge Teleportation Spirit Array was quietly operating.
The Spirit Array spanned roughly a hundred meters. Dozens of fist-sized crystals of various colors were piled around it, giving off faint light as they supplied it with spiritual energy.
A towering pillar stood at the center of the Spirit Array, carved with the images of unknown spirit beasts. They were vividly lifelike, their eyes fierce, as though they might leap down at any moment!
"Enter the array."
The instructor kept it brief.
The youths entered the Spirit Array one after another, with plenty of room to spare.
Mu Chen stepped into the array with the crowd. Luo Li passed beside him, trailing the faintest wisp of fragrance.
She settled in one corner of the array, her eyes still lowered, her silver hair cascading like a waterfall.
"The trial grounds will open for half a month." The instructor's voice echoed through the hall. "You know the rules. Your lives are your own responsibility. Now-"
"Teleport!"
Boom!
In an instant, thousands of streaks of light burst from the pillar. Their colors intertwined into a dazzling sea of light that enveloped everyone in the array.
Mu Chen felt the array patterns beneath his feet shake violently as space began to distort.
Then came a sense of weightlessness...
His feet touched the ground.
Mu Chen lowered his body slightly to absorb the impact and landed steadily.
The white light receded like a tide, and his vision cleared.
He raised his head.
A vast wilderness stretched before him.
The Check-in System did not respond. Apparently, he could not check in here.
"What's going on? Where did everyone go?"
An unfamiliar voice rang out from some thirty meters away.
Mu Chen surveyed his surroundings, his senses detecting the three youths nearby before his eyes did.
The speaker was a tall, burly youth in brown leather armor. The muscles of his exposed arms bulged, and obvious displeasure filled his eyes.
Of the other two youths, one was short and plump, the other tall and thin.
The three scanned the wilderness before their gazes settled on Mu Chen together.
A brief silence followed.
The brown-armored youth looked Mu Chen up and down, his wary gaze gradually turning amused.
He grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.
"Isn't this the guy who asked that silver-haired girl to team up? Lucky us, running into him as soon as we got here."
The tall, thin youth gave two sinister chuckles, a sharp gleam flashing in his narrow eyes. "Lone wolves are the easiest to slaughter..."
Before he finished speaking, Mu Chen moved.
Without warning, he simply took a step forward, and his figure vanished from the spot.
The pupils of all three contracted sharply.
A slender, fair-skinned hand abruptly appeared before the brown-armored youth, its fingers slightly spread as it pressed toward his face.
Too fast!
The brown-armored youth did not even have time to think!
Thud!
A muffled impact erupted, and the brown-armored youth was sent flying backward, utterly helpless!
He tumbled through the air, his vision spinning wildly. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of his two companions...
The tall, thin youth lay curled on the ground, clutching his stomach, his face white as paper, unable to make a sound. The short, plump youth lay facedown, motionless.
"This..."
Before the thought could form, a dull pain struck the back of his head.
Darkness swallowed his consciousness.
Mu Chen withdrew his hand. From beginning to end, it had taken only an instant.
Mu Chen bent down, took the blood-red tokens from their bodies, and absorbed the soul essence stored within them.
A warm current spread along his arms and coursed through every limb and bone.
His bones tingled faintly, and his flesh gave a soft, satisfied hum.
Although this little bit of soul essence did not do much for him, it felt quite pleasant.
"Three second-level spirit bodies, and you still tried to throw your weight around... Tsk, tsk."
Mu Chen shook his head and turned to leave.
He had not killed them.
Although nothing was forbidden in the Spirit Road Trial, indiscriminate killing might give the Sacred Spirit Academy grounds to target him, just as in the original story, bringing needless trouble.
As for whether some passing spirit beast might carry these three off-
That was outside the scope of his concern.
Seven days passed.
Mu Chen's footprints covered the trial grounds.
Whenever he encountered a spirit beast, he killed it. Whenever he encountered a trial participant, he seized their token.
More than a hundred people had fallen to him, and the tokens and soul essence in his possession had accumulated to a staggering degree. Unfortunately, without sufficiently powerful soul essence to clinch the breakthrough, his spirit body remained stuck at the peak of level four.
At this point, a level three spirit body already ranked among the strongest on the Spirit Road!
Mu Chen was already invincible on the Spirit Road!
Ordinary spirit beasts died with a single punch. Not one trial participant lasted beyond a single move!
That day, Mu Chen crossed a barren mountain, and the view suddenly opened before him.
A basin lay ahead, with a ruined ancient hall at its center.
Who knew when the ancient hall had been built? Its weathered walls were covered in vines, and half its roof had collapsed, exposing the deep darkness within.
But it was not the ancient hall that made Mu Chen stop.
It was the familiar silver-haired figure standing before it.
Luo Li.
She stood alone before a broken wall of the ancient hall, her silver hair cascading like a waterfall, her black dress trailing on the ground.
Opposite her stood four people.
Their clothing differed, but all four possessed formidable auras. Even the weakest had a second-level spirit body, while their leader had reached level three!
They spread out in a fan, surrounding Luo Li, their gazes hostile.
"Miss Luo Li, we found this Crimson Lian Fruit first. Yet you took advantage of our lowered guard to kill the spirit beast here and take the treasure. That hardly seems appropriate, does it?"
Their leader was a young man in blue robes, with refined features but sharp eyes.
Luo Li merely tightened her grip on the Luo God Sword, her voice as cool as ever.
"Move."
"Then there's nothing to discuss." The blue-robed young man sighed and waved his hand. "Attack!"
They sprang into action at once!
Flashing blades, fist winds, and palm strikes surged toward Luo Li from every direction.
Luo Li moved like a phantom, weaving through the flashing blades as the clang of metal rang out without pause.
For a time, the four could not overcome her. She might even defeat them one by one!
The blue-robed young man wielded a pair of short halberds with cunning strikes. Seeing things turning against them, he disregarded injury and took a slash from Luo Li head-on to create an opening!
Luo Li's sword flashed as she turned sideways and parried a short halberd, but the other three were already attacking from behind, their blades sealing off her retreat...
She was about to weather the attacks head-on when, from the corner of her eye, she saw a dark figure leap down from the barren mountain and land in the battlefield.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Four muffled impacts rang out.
All four were sent flying at once, crashing to the ground several meters away, coughing up blood and unable to rise.
Mu Chen stood beside Luo Li, his black clothes stirring slightly, his expression calm.
"Ganging up on one person isn't a good look."
Before you continue