Oh my goodness! Truly the epitome of audacity.
Guang Xiaoyu couldn't help but laugh instead of getting angry, as if reminded of her past self. Back then, she had been even more arrogant than these people. But now, she glanced at her Senior Brother beside her, only to find him overly calm, not at all worried about the situation at hand.
Is this a mortal? Shouldn't he be scared? If Senior Brother isn't afraid, how can This Empress show her importance? He offers no chance for me to be protective! Hmm!
Chen Pingping kicked the Earth Chicken. "Did you hear that? They want to eat you."
He found this Earth Chicken incredibly arrogant; it stubbornly refused to acknowledge him, causing the system task to remain incomplete.
So, he kicked it again, sending it flying.
CLUCK! CLUCK! CLUCK!
Damn it!
The Earth Chicken flapped its wings and scampered back. Although it couldn't speak human language, Chen Pingping understood: the chicken was cursing him.
Damn human cultivator, how dare you kick me, your mother hen! If you hadn't abducted me by force, would I be in danger of being eaten?
Nearby, Shi Yi's expression flickered with silent excitement.
Definitely a Spiritual Beast! Confirmed.
He had been observing it all along, noticing many peculiarities about the Earth Chicken that set it apart from ordinary creatures, but he just couldn't be certain.
The biggest question was, why would a proud Spiritual Beast willingly follow a mere mortal?
"General Luo, take them down," Shi Yi ordered resolutely, for the sake of the Spiritual Beast.
"You dare?" Shangguan Yumo's tone was ice-cold. "I am from the Shangguan Clan, and my elder brother is..."
"Take them down!" Shi Yi's face filled with anger.
"You're seeking death!" Shangguan Yumo glared furiously.
"To be so arrogant and presumptuous within the Stone Country's royal city, do you really think this prince wouldn't dare touch you?" Shi Yi raised his hand, unsheathing his sword. As a cultivator at the Third Heaven of the Condensed Soul Realm, he found it exceedingly easy to attempt to cut down a cultivator at the Breaking Sun Realm.
Shangguan Yumo's face paled drastically.
General Luo was in a difficult spot, torn between the prince and a young master from the Shangguan Clan. What could he do?
BUZZ!
The sword light, wrapped in killing intent, swiftly slashed towards Shangguan Yumo. He quickly backpedaled, his breath catching. Fortunately, he reacted quickly enough and only sustained some superficial wounds.
Shi Yi, fueled by burning anger and chilling killing intent, charged over swiftly.
The group of youths was struck with terror.
Even Shangguan Yumo became flustered. Although he was from a cultivation family and had the protection of the Yuan Martial Academy, that help was too far away to extinguish the immediate fire.
Fortunately, a teacher from the academy arrived in time. With a casual wave of his hand from Long Street, an immense wave of power, like a mountain pressing down, surged forward.
It was Form Manifestation, a power of the Supreme Mystery Realm.
Shi Yi's sword was blocked, his movements hindered. Not only that, but the overwhelming power didn't dissipate; instead, it grew more intense.
Damn it! His face darkened.
General Luo, wanting to intervene, found himself lacking. At the Destiny Stage, he was far too weak compared to someone at the Supreme Mystery Realm. His sword hadn't even been drawn when he and the soldiers behind him were suppressed.
Interesting!
Chen Pingping remained as calm as ever. He looked with keen interest at the academy teacher. Despite only being at the first level of the Supreme Mystery Realm, the teacher could use Spirit Qi manifestation so skillfully.
It seemed this academy did have some tricks up its sleeve.
Guang Xiaoyu, sitting atop the ox, was enveloped in Lao Huang's qi field and thus unaffected by the oppressive aura.
However, noticing something was amiss with Shi Yi and the soldiers, her dark eyes glanced at Lao Huang beneath her before immediately turning towards the teacher.
The next moment, a force far more powerful than the teacher's erupted suddenly. It was akin to a peerless sword, shattering the teacher's manifested power.
With a CRACKLE, it was as if a mirage had been shattered.
The force pierced straight through the teacher's body, leaving a large, bloody hole. A trail of blood followed, instantly staining his clothes crimson.
The group of youths was stupefied.
Shi Yi was even more stunned.
Who acted?
General Luo reacted, quickly scanning the surroundings, trying to find the person who had made the move.
On the ox's back, Guang Xiaoyu keenly sensed her Senior Brother's anomaly, but she had no evidence...
"Teacher, Teacher..." Shangguan Yumo quickly ran over. "Teacher, are you all right?"
"I won't die." Liu Yuxuan clutched his wound and looked up ahead.
Among their group, General Luo was the strongest, at the Destiny Stage. Liu Yuxuan, however, was at the Supreme Mystery Realm. General Luo couldn't possibly have inflicted such a heavy injury on him.
Shi Yi couldn't have done it either; he was only at the Condensed Soul Realm.
The little girl on the ox's back had a potent aura, but her cultivation realm was too far off.
That left only the seemingly ordinary, yet not-so-ordinary, Chen Pingping.
He was very calm.
This kind of calmness, where one's expression wouldn't change even if Mount Tai were crumbling before them, Liu Yuxuan had only ever seen in one other person.
He smiled. "Liu Yuxuan, a teacher from the Yuan Martial Academy."
General Luo stepped forward. "Luo Yu, of the city guard." He thought the other party was greeting him, but that wasn't the case.
Behind him, Chen Pingping nodded but said nothing more.
Having received a response, Liu Yuxuan no longer lingered, leading Shangguan Yumo and the group of youths quickly away.
「Yuan Martial Academy, deep within.」
In a small courtyard, three people were seated: the Grand State Master, Chen Shixian, and Luo Yu, who was giving his report.
After a long while...
The Grand State Master expressed surprise. "His aura was calm, without any fluctuations?"
Luo Yu took a deep breath, his expression grave. "Yes. This person is very young, likely in his early twenties, and was cradling a small black dog in his arms."
Upon hearing the words "small black dog," Chen Shixian couldn't help but speak up. "I saw this person when I was at Salt Mountain."
"Oh?" The Grand State Master looked at her. "And?"
"Calm!" Chen Shixian recalled all the information she had on Chen Pingping. Apart from the word "calm," she couldn't find any other words to describe him. This person was so incredibly calm, through and through. Even in the beast-infested Salt Mountain, where an ordinary cultivator would feel fear, he didn't. Indeed, a small black dog was following him. Later, when he returned to the inn, an Earth Chicken was by his side. I suspect it to be a Spiritual Beast. But she had no evidence.
Luo Yu was surprised. "Was there no ox?"
"I didn't see one!" she answered.
"There was a little girl sitting on the back of an ox, probably Guang Xiaoyu of the Wuji Sect. She came for the appointment," said Luo Yu.
A man and a woman.
An ox, a small black dog, an Earth Chicken.
The lineup was quite strange.
Chen Shixian curled her lip. Someone at the fifth stage of the Breaking Sun Realm dared to come for the appointment? Was she looking down on the Divine Body? Or was she just overly confident? She was somewhat speechless.
The Grand State Master shook his head. "It's not that simple. This appointment is of great importance; the Wuji Sect wouldn't be so rash."
However, he didn't know that the Wuji Sect had no clear idea what the appointment was about. The Sect Leader hadn't specified, and the disciples only had a vague understanding.
Otherwise, it wouldn't have been Guang Xiaoyu who came to fight.
"Teacher, what exactly is the content of the appointment?" Chen Shixian couldn't help but ask.
"The Spirit Vein!"
「Wuji Sect.」
Baili Jiansan had just received a letter from his master, the Sect Leader. The content was simple, concerning the details of the appointment with the Grand State Master.
Four large words: "Contest for Spirit Vein."
He was stunned.
At this moment, Chen Pingping and Guang Xiaoyu, who were in the capital city of Stone Country, also learned the content of the appointment through Shi Yi's investigation.