The autumn sunlight had already begun to dwindle, and the scorching summer heat faded day by day.
The trees in the courtyard were also beginning to show autumn's touch, their falling leaves adding a hint of desolation.
Once the height of summer had passed, their dense branches and leaves were no longer aids to survival, but burdens.
Mu Chen sat on the eaves, watching the sunset clouds appear on the horizon earlier with each passing day. In his ears were the rustle of autumn wind through the treetops and the roar coming from the mountain behind the academy.
Hurry up and finish your secluded cultivation, big brother. I want to go home. I've got a mountain of questions to ask Dad.
You really pulled off something huge this time, snatching the Liu Family's stuff in the Northern Spirit Plains and leaving the Liu Domain scrambling.
Especially those two Liu Family brothers. Every time they look at me now, they look like they want to eat me alive.
Get your facts straight, you two. My brother took your stuff, not me. I'm just the little brother standing behind him shouting, "Awesome!"
I wonder what that Copper Fragment actually is, to make the Liu Domain so frantic. They're acting like my brother dug up their ancestral graves.
Still, our families haven't been at odds for just a year or two. When it comes to making the Liu Domain suffer, all I can say is: nicely done, big brother. Make sure you bring me along next time.
Speaking of which, my brother's breakthrough is making quite a stir this time.
To help him break through, Master Mo even went upstream of the waterfall and opened the sluice gate. Now the whole Northern Spiritual Academy can hear the waterfall roaring.
And it never stops, day or night.
Luckily, the student dormitories have simple soundproofing Spirit Arrays engraved in them. Otherwise, someone would probably have gone to the mountain to make trouble.
I wonder if this breakthrough will help your injuries, big brother. You cough up blood every time you fight. I know it's nothing serious, but it still hurts to watch.
Mu Chen let his thoughts wander as he watched the setting sun sink.
Just as Mu Chen saw the lingering sun dip halfway below the horizon and prepared to climb down from the eaves, a powerful surge of spiritual energy suddenly erupted.
It came from the mountain behind the academy.
A vortex of spiritual energy formed above the mountain, drawing in the spiritual energy between heaven and earth. Wisps of cloud, dyed orange-red by the sunset, curled into the vortex and outlined its shape.
"Did big brother break through?"
Mu Chen hurriedly jumped down from the eaves and rushed over.
By the time Mu Chen reached the mountain, the clouds overhead had already piled together. Their initial softness and brightness had turned pitch-black as ink, and they spiraled downward like a funnel, hanging extremely low.
Master Mo stood guard before the waterfall, looking up at the strange phenomenon with complicated eyes that held a faint trace of melancholy.
Beneath the waterfall, Su Qing's breakthrough had reached its final step.
Within the chalcedony-like spiritual liquid, a golden Spirit Wheel gradually took shape, resembling a golden palace.
The spiritual meridians throughout his body had all lit up, madly absorbing the spiritual energy between heaven and earth and channeling it into his dantian.
At some point, wisps of white mist formed between heaven and earth and poured into Su Qing's dantian beneath the waterfall.
As the last wisp of white mist flowed in, the golden palace rose completely from the chalcedony. The swirling cloud funnel overhead burst apart, and a ring of spiritual energy exploded outward.
With that, Su Qing successfully established his foundation and entered the Spirit Wheel Realm.
Yet the spiritual energy between heaven and earth did not stop there. It continued pouring madly into Su Qing's dantian.
This breakthrough unleashed everything Su Qing had accumulated, taking him straight into the late stage of the Spirit Wheel Realm in a single surge. The old injuries within his organs were also somewhat eased.
After a long while, the spiritual energy settled. Su Qing opened his eyes, tiny glints of cold light shining within their clear radiance.
Many people noticed the strange phenomenon overhead, but the clouds hung so low that no one outside Northern Spirit City saw them.
In the Mu Domain, the Liu Domain... some people raised their heads and glanced in that direction, sensing that something seemed to have happened there.
Most of the other people living in the Northern Spirit Domain felt nothing at all. Those going about their lives continued doing so, while those fighting to the death continued fighting to the death.
Outside the waterfall, Mu Chen and Master Mo gazed at the hazy figure beneath the water, both filled with emotion.
Mu Chen marveled at the extraordinary nature of Su Qing's cultivation method.
He had thought the cultivation method his mysterious mother had left him was already outstanding, having triggered a series of strange phenomena when he cultivated it. He had never expected his brother's to be even more formidable.
Master Mo, meanwhile, marveled at Su Qing's exceptional talent.
In his youth, he too had been a renowned genius throughout the surrounding countryside. Only after growing up had he discovered that beyond every person stood someone greater, and beyond every heaven lay another heaven. Now that higher heaven stood right before him.
As the spiritual energy between heaven and earth settled, the cold gleam in Su Qing's eyes gradually receded, concealed beneath their clear radiance.
Then Su Qing parted the falling water and stepped out.
Youthful spirit, heroic bearing, sword-like brows and phoenix eyes, bright eyes and gleaming teeth...
At that moment, it seemed that no beautiful description would be excessive when applied to Su Qing.
"Congratulations on entering the Spirit Wheel Realm." Master Mo stepped forward with a smile and offered his congratulations, his voice carrying melancholy, yet also a measure of satisfaction.
Su Qing thanked Master Mo. After a brief conversation, Master Mo excused himself, saying he needed to go upstream to close the sluice gate.
Once Master Mo had left, Mu Chen raised his fist and swung at Su Qing, only for Su Qing to catch it firmly.
"Oh? You've gotten quite a bit stronger too," Su Qing said, raising an eyebrow.
"Still nowhere near you, big brother. Over the last couple of days, I ate all the Jade Spirit Fruits you gave me and broke through to the late stage of the Spirit Movement Realm too," Mu Chen said with a grin as he withdrew his fist.
After they joked around for a while, Mu Chen turned serious. "Someone's been spying on me from the shadows these past few days. They're probably from the Liu Domain, but I've stayed inside the East Courtyard, so they haven't dared to make a move."
The clear radiance in Su Qing's eyes flared. "It's fine. Tomorrow, your big brother will take you straight out through the front gate in broad daylight. We'll stroll around a couple of times and put on a show."
"My cultivation wasn't high enough before, so there were plenty of things I wanted to use but couldn't. Now, your big brother is invincible below the Divine Soul Realm," Su Qing said confidently.
"All right, then the two of us will take a walk and stride out with the wind of tigers at our heels."
"And walk the world into peace."
Northern Spirit City was a city born of the Northern Spiritual Academy.
Though it was a famous large city within the Northern Spirit Plains, it was only about as large as the ancient city of Chang'an that Su Qing had seen in his previous life.
Like the Northern Spiritual Academy, it maintained absolute neutrality, and that neutrality had brought prosperity.
The weather there was not particularly pleasant that day. The sky was gloomy, with wind and rain looming. The bleak autumn wind swept over yellowing leaves, and summer's brightness was already gone.
Yet the city's lively atmosphere was barely affected. Its prosperous streets bustled with crowds. Most of the people were students of the Northern Spiritual Academy, and most businesses along the streets primarily catered to them.
Su Qing and Mu Chen were now striding down those streets, strolling leisurely without any hurry.
Eyes hidden in the shadows kept watching them furtively, but neither paid them any attention, acting as though they had noticed nothing.
As the two rounded a locust tree at a street corner, fine rain struck their faces. The street gradually grew deserted, until all traces of people vanished.
The two stopped in the street. A faint streak of white light flashed through the heavily overcast sky, its subtle fluctuations concealed against that backdrop, almost imperceptible.
"The Soul Bewildering Array," Mu Chen said after looking up to examine it.
"Are these tricks all the rats in the shadows know?" Mu Chen sneered.
Su Qing said flatly, "You dream of killing me with something like this? Are you counting on me to kill myself?"
"Ah." The person hidden in the shadows gave a lingering sigh. "You're Su Qing? Hand it over."
"Heh." Su Qing gave a cold, sharp laugh.
"You're a Spirit Array Master, and there are only a handful of famous Spirit Array Masters in the Northern Spiritual Realm. Don't think hiding yourself means I don't know who you are."
"The man in the rain, Ji Zong."
Ji Zong had no desire to argue further with Su Qing. "Su Qing, out of respect for you two as the young masters of the Mu Domain, I don't want to attack and send Mu Feng into a frenzy. Hand it over, and we can each go our own way. It's better for everyone. Otherwise, don't blame me if I strike too hard."
At that, Su Qing chuckled mockingly. "You really think you're somebody? A dog serving the Liu Domain-have you spent so long on your knees that you actually think you're human? You're someone's slave, yet you still want a monument erected to your virtue. Pah! Disgusting!"
"If you want to kill me, bring that nest of snakes, rats, and cockroaches you associate with and come at me together."
"I had intended to spare your lives. You brought this on yourselves," Ji Zong said darkly after a moment of silence.
As Ji Zong's words fell, the strands of rain drifting through the air gradually turned crimson, falling like droplets of blood.
Su Qing raised his head toward the sky. A savage expression surfaced on his face, and the cold gleam in his eyes blazed.
Kunwu flew out of Su Qing's sleeve, its cold light piercing.
"I wonder how many of my moves you can withstand as a Level One Spirit Array Master."