An awkward meeting of eyes

Amid a patch of overgrown weeds, a figure sat cross-legged.

Their eyes met, and the atmosphere grew rather awkward...

"Uh... sorry for disturbing you, hehe..." Mu Chen forced out a dry chuckle, his entire body tensed, then turned to run.

Unfortunately, the instant he turned around, he saw more than a dozen fist-sized black spirit bees surrounding him from behind.

I'm in trouble!

Alarm surged through Mu Chen. The sense of danger made every pore on his body tighten, and his right hand slowly clenched almost instinctively.

Dark spiritual energy circulated through his body, pouring steadily into his right palm. The faint black seal there gradually emerged.

An icy fluctuation quietly spread outward.

Dark light suddenly erupted from Mu Chen's palm. He seemed to hold a black sun in his hand, its chilling fluctuations enough to strike fear into the heart.

The Senluo Death Seal was the most powerful spiritual art Mu Chen currently possessed. If it truly came down to the final moment, he could only stake his life on one desperate strike!

"That's a fine look in your eyes..." Heavenly Insect smiled faintly as he studied the youth opposite him.

"But you're a little reckless. With your strength, do you think you're qualified to raise a fist against me?"

As his words fell, an immense pressure rose from Heavenly Insect and instantly enveloped Mu Chen...

"What?!"

Under that terrifying pressure, Mu Chen felt that he faced not a person, but a mountain range, a raging tempest, towering waves crashing through a furious sea!

Forget resisting-Mu Chen felt he could not even move a finger.

Just who is this guy...? He looks about my age at most, but this aura definitely belongs to a Divine Soul Realm expert!

A sixteen- or seventeen-year-old youth in the Divine Soul Realm-never mind the Northern Spiritual Realm, such a terrifying genius could probably only be found in the Five Great Spirit Academies.

Heavenly Insect looked at the youth, whose face remained resolute without a trace of fear beneath his pressure, and could not help admiring him inwardly. What strength of character!

But do you really dare throw a punch under these circumstances?

As Heavenly Insect thought this, the aura around him continued to intensify...

Mu Chen now felt like a feather that had sunk into the depths of the sea. He had nothing to push against and could only let the endless water shove and crush him, any wave threatening to drag him into the deepest abyss.

"Aaah!!!"

An irrepressible roar burst out. Powerful spiritual energy erupted, blasting splinters from the surrounding tree trunks.

The youth's lean figure shot forward like a gale. He became a blurred shadow, appearing behind Heavenly Insect in a flash, his five fingers clenched as dark spiritual energy swept forth.

The force of his strike whipped up a savage wind and smashed mercilessly toward the back of Heavenly Insect's head.

Bam!

Yet just as his punch was about to hit, Heavenly Insect acted as though he had eyes in the back of his head. Without showing the slightest intention of turning, he sent a fist past his ear and struck backward, colliding directly with the incoming punch.

Ferocious gusts swept outward. Heavenly Insect did not budge, but after sensing the weakness of the other's black spiritual energy, he instantly opened his fist into a palm. A swirl formed in his palm, and a surge of powerful spiritual energy struck the youth with a yielding force.

Thud!

Mu Chen's lean figure flew backward as though struck by a heavy blow. He twisted in midair, then landed with a slight stagger.

After landing, Mu Chen drew a deep breath. For the first time, he clearly understood how terrifying a Divine Soul Realm expert was.

Still, his opponent had chosen to hold back at the end. Clearly, he had no intention of killing him for now, and that allowed Mu Chen to breathe a little easier.

"Sir, I meant no intrusion. If I have offended you, please forgive me!" After rising, Mu Chen immediately cupped his fist in apology.

Heavenly Insect looked him over.

He chuckled softly. "Young man, you're quite impressive. Tell me your name." "Mu Chen."

"Mu Chen..." Heavenly Insect nodded, pretending to commit the name to memory. "To think a youth with your strength of character could be found in a backwater like the Northern Spiritual Realm. Very good."

"My name is Heavenly Insect. I come from the Spirit Insect Tribe..."

"The Spirit Insect Tribe..."

Mu Chen murmured to himself. He vaguely recalled hearing that name before. They seemed to be a rather unusual tribe in the Great Thousand World, capable of controlling all the insects beneath the heavens. Others called them Spirit Insect Masters.

Legend had it that their methods were mysterious and unpredictable, making them exceedingly difficult to provoke. He had never expected to encounter one here.

No wonder this person could control such a large Soul Devouring Bee Swarm.

But why had someone from the Spirit Insect Tribe appeared in Black Nether Abyss? Had he come to raise some powerful spirit insect, or was his objective also the Nine Nether Sparrow...?

At that thought, Mu Chen's heart sank considerably.

Watching the subtle changes in the youth's expression, Heavenly Insect could not help chuckling inwardly. Regardless of his talent and temperament, Mu Chen was still only a youth at present. In some respects, he lacked an adult's composure.

Only his experiences on the Spirit Road had helped his character mature considerably. Otherwise, Mu Chen's temperament would not have been much better than that of an ordinary youth.

Just as he was about to speak, his spiritual sense suddenly detected someone else approaching the enormous tree.

"Oh? It's rather lively today. Someone else has come..."

Hearing Heavenly Insect's words, Mu Chen started inwardly and hurriedly looked up toward the tree trunk ahead. A familiar figure stood there with his arms folded, staring down at him with indifferent eyes.

It was Liu Mubai!

"Tsk, tsk. From the looks of you two, there seems to be some bad blood between you?" Heavenly Insect watched them with interest. "If that's the case, you can settle it yourselves first. The winner gets to leave. How does that sound?"

Looking at this unfamiliar youth who had suddenly appeared, Liu Mubai likewise sensed extreme danger from him.

He and the others from the Liu Domain had also been scattered by the Devouring Spirit Bees. After hearing the faint strains of a flute, he had followed the sound here.

But he had been a step slower than Mu Chen, allowing the latter to get here first.

Liu Mubai had initially thought Mu Chen had obtained some treasure. He had never expected him to have encountered such a strange person instead...

And judging by this person's current attitude, he probably would not let Liu Mubai leave unless he fought Mu Chen.

Mu Chen's and Liu Mubai's gazes briefly met, and each saw what the other was thinking.

"Hehe, Mu Chen, it seems your luck really is poor today. This isn't the Northern Spiritual Academy. If I strike a little too hard, I might just take your life!" A sinister gleam crossed Liu Mubai's eyes as he spoke slowly.

"I wasn't even afraid of Blood Butcher hunting me down. Liu Mubai, what do you amount to?" Mu Chen asked with a smile.

"That fool Blood Butcher probably had the misfortune of running into the Silver-Horned Dragon Leopard in the Northern Spirit Plains, didn't he? Your luck really is good, stumbling into something like that." Mockery flickered in Liu Mubai's eyes.

They had investigated afterward and found traces of a fight in the Silver-Horned Dragon Leopard's territory, along with Blood Butcher's torn clothes. Thus, they guessed Mu Chen had escaped Blood Butcher by borrowing the Silver-Horned Dragon Leopard's strength.

"So Blood Butcher died at the Silver-Horned Dragon Leopard's hands. What does that have to do with you? Trying to intimidate me with that is rather naive."

Mu Chen smiled, refusing to lose his head and argue with Liu Mubai. He enjoyed watching these fellows think themselves clever.

His attitude only infuriated Liu Mubai further. He swooped down from above like a hunting falcon, spiritual energy surging through his palm as he struck mercilessly at Mu Chen.

Mu Chen dug his toes into the fallen leaves and kicked hard, sending dead leaves dancing through the air as he rapidly retreated.

Bam!

Fiery-red spiritual energy swept outward, shattering the airborne leaves. Liu Mubai moved like lightning, his hand shaped like an eagle's claw. His fiery-red spiritual energy radiated scorching fluctuations as he lunged straight for the vital area of Mu Chen's chest.

Seeing Liu Mubai's ruthless attack, Mu Chen's eyes also turned cold. Dark spiritual energy abruptly emerged over his fist, followed by a flashing Senluo Death Seal.

He threw a punch!

The Senluo Death Seal flickered on the surface of Mu Chen's fist, radiating an overbearing fluctuation amid the coils of dark spiritual energy.

Thud!

Mu Chen's fist collided head-on with Liu Mubai's sharp eagle claw. A muffled impact rang out, and a visible shock wave of spiritual energy spread, blasting away all the fallen leaves around their feet.

Heavenly Insect watched with relish from the side, offering an inward appraisal. Mm, Liu Mubai is fairly strong too. He's actually reached the spirit wheel realm, and his spiritual energy is so solid. The spiritual art he cultivates probably isn't some commonplace thing.

Still, he falls short of Mu Chen. After all, this kid cultivates the Great Pagoda Art, one of the finest spiritual arts in the Great Thousand World. Even incomplete, it's far beyond anything people from a little place like the Hundred Spirits Continent can compare with.

As for that Senluo Death Seal, its power was nothing special. Coming from the Spirit Insect Tribe, Heavenly Insect did not think much of it.

Although the two had initially appeared evenly matched, Mu Chen was still at an absolute disadvantage. After all, he was only at late spirit movement, a full realm below Liu Mubai.

Seeing that defeat was imminent, Mu Chen began dodging constantly, looking as though he was being driven back step by step.

Yet Heavenly Insect could clearly see that every position he dodged toward had been carefully calculated. At each spot, Mu Chen left behind some spiritual energy...

This kid is setting up an array! Heavenly Insect immediately discerned Mu Chen's intent.

There was nothing surprising about it, though. Having read the original novel, Heavenly Insect knew Mu Chen's repertoire very well.

Besides, becoming a Spirit Array Master ran in his family. Mu Chen's mother was one of the rare Saint Grade Grandmasters of Spirit Arrays in the entire Great Thousand World. Even from the perspective of modern genetics, Mu Chen's talent for spirit arrays was undoubtedly among the finest in the Great Thousand World.

On the battlefield, Liu Mubai, thoroughly annoyed by Mu Chen's constant ducking and dodging, suddenly revealed a cold gleam in his eyes. All his powerful spiritual energy erupted as he changed his claw into a fist and punched through the air at Mu Chen from above.

"Flame Eagle Incineration!"

As his punch shot out, fiery-red spiritual energy billowed forth like flames.

Within those flames, the force of Liu Mubai's punch seemed to transform into an incomparably fierce fire eagle. It shrieked forward, cutting off every avenue of retreat for Mu Chen.

"Oh, that move is rather interesting..."

Watching the fight, Heavenly Insect could not help raising an eyebrow.

Mu Chen's steps abruptly stopped. His pitch-black eyes fixed on the savage attack hurtling toward him...

The next instant, he suddenly brought his hands together, a cold shout bursting from his mouth. "Array, rise!"

Hum!

As his shout fell, the air ahead abruptly rippled. Cords of spiritual light shot out from it, winding straight around Liu Mubai's limbs.

The sudden change made Liu Mubai's body stiffen for an instant, and intense surprise flashed through his eyes.

"A spirit array?"

But his alarm lasted only an instant before he detected how weak the array's restraints were. He immediately sneered. "So it's just a little spirit array."

A Minor Spirit Binding Array that did not even qualify as a first-grade spirit array could not possibly stop his attack!

Boom!

Powerful spiritual energy gushed forth, snapping the cords of spiritual light.

Liu Mubai's attack remained unchanged, his fist continuing to smash viciously toward Mu Chen. However, that momentary obstruction from the little spirit array had clearly affected his attack, weakening it somewhat.

At that very moment, Mu Chen poured out all his spiritual energy and condensed two Senluo Death Seals, choosing to meet his opponent head-on.

After a tremendous crash, the entire enormous black tree began to tremble. Countless leaves shook loose, and two figures burst out amid the boundless shower of foliage.

Beneath the trees, the two continued their standoff, their eyes cold as blades. Leaves drifted constantly between them, and the atmosphere was taut with drawn swords and strung bows.

Crack.

Just as their bodies tensed like fully drawn bowstrings, a faint sound suddenly came from the forest behind them. The unexpected noise briefly arrested the taut atmosphere.

Then two groups rushed out of the forest and gathered beside the two youths respectively. They were the forces of the Mu Domain and the Liu Domain.

"Young master, are you all right?" Duan Wei positioned himself in front of Mu Chen, watching the Liu Domain's men as he quietly addressed him.

Mu Chen nodded. He knew he and Liu Mubai probably could not continue fighting now. Otherwise, if both sides joined battle and made too much noise, they might attract the horrors deep within Black Nether Abyss.

He simply did not know how Heavenly Insect would deal with them...

Just as this thought crossed his mind, Mu Chen and the others heard soft clapping. A figure then slowly descended from the treetop, still applauding...

"Not bad, not bad. Both of you are quite impressive," Heavenly Insect praised them as he descended.

As for the men from the Mu Domain and the Liu Domain, he ignored them entirely.

After landing gracefully on the ground between the two sides, Heavenly Insect glanced at the Liu Domain's men. "Liu Mubai, was it? You can take your men and leave now..."