Mu Chen obtained the "Four Gods Astral Scripture" in the Spirit Skill Hall, which was closely related to that page of the Immortal Divine Tome.
This was a top-tier divine skill, and also what Mu Chen had been looking forward to: a normal offensive spirit skill that could be activated with spiritual power.
After receiving the reward, Mu Chen did not immediately start cultivating, but instead chose to take a break, spending an entire day touring the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy with Luo Li.
The next day, he once again threw himself into intense cultivation.
Being first on the God Soul List, among the top hundred on the Heaven Rank, and receiving the champion's reward from the Freshmen Tournament made him rich for a time, allowing him to enter the Seven Level Spirit Gathering Array for nearly three months of secluded cultivation.
The Seven Level Spirit Gathering Array cost 5,000 Spirit Value per day, and the Spirit Value flowed like water; in nearly three months, he spent over 400,000 Spirit Value.
He also spent 300,000 Spirit Value to exchange for a "Heaven Merging Pill."
This was a pill suitable for those in the Heaven Merging Realm, similar in effect to the Divine Soul Pill, capable of helping those in the Heaven Merging Realm advance by a minor stage.
By this point, all the Spirit Value rewards he had obtained from being the Freshmen Tournament champion, first on the God Soul List, and among the top hundred on the Heaven Rank were completely exhausted.
The consumption was huge, but the results were also gratifying: his cultivation surged to the Late Stage of the Heaven Merging Realm.
With empty pockets, Mu Chen began to worry about Spirit Value.
"You should have gone out to earn Spirit Value earlier. If this continues, when will you earn enough for ten million Spirit Value?!" Nine Netherworld Sparrow was full of resentment; she finally couldn't help but start urging him.
Mu Chen smiled: "Sharpening the knife doesn't delay chopping wood, right? Once my strength improves, won't it be much easier to earn Spirit Value?"
"Oh, right, Nine Netherworld Sparrow, stand in the middle a bit. I feel like I can slightly control this black paper now. Let me see if I can release you from this cage."
Since the Xuanbing Spirit Dragon and the Earth Core Flame Dragon Lizard were killed by Hun Hunsheng, the original plot where Nine Netherworld Sparrow recklessly absorbed the spiritual power of the two spirit beasts and lost control, leading the black paper to judge her as harmful and automatically cleanse her, did not occur.
This also meant that the bloodline connection between her and Mu Chen never happened… She was still trapped in the flower cage formed by the mandala flower.
Nine Netherworld Sparrow subconsciously asked, "You're willing to let me out?"
Mu Chen said with a smile, "We've already been friends for a long time, haven't we? If I hadn't been unable to control this black paper before, I wouldn't have dragged it out until now."
A flicker of complexity crossed Nine Netherworld Sparrow's eyes, and her good impression of Mu Chen rose again.
"Aren't you afraid I'll just run away after you open the cage?"
"Hmm?" Amon's phantom pressed against Nine Netherworld Sparrow's head, one hand gently embracing the bird's neck: "Little bird, what did you just say? Run away? You are something I gave to Mu Chen. How can you run away without his permission?"
Nine Netherworld Sparrow shivered. Ever since she was refined by Mu Chen, Amon had become very ethereal; her figure was only a faint, indistinct outline that was hard to see without a careful look, and her presence had greatly diminished.
Coupled with the fact that she had not displayed the terrifying pressure she had shown at their first meeting, Nine Netherworld Sparrow had temporarily overlooked her existence.
"Amon, don't scare Nine Netherworld Sparrow. She is my friend, not some 'thing.' Whether she stays or leaves is up to her. I have no right to stop her, nor will I."
"Alright, alright, as you wish." Amon retreated to the side.
Mu Chen attempted to inject spiritual power into the mysterious black paper. After he had almost exhausted his spiritual power, the mysterious black paper finally trembled slightly, and the cage shaped like a mandala flower slowly opened.
Nine Netherworld Sparrow eagerly flew out from the opening, circling joyfully around Mu Chen's spirit before landing on his shoulder.
"I won't leave! The Nine Netherworld Sparrow's essence blood is right before my eyes; I won't give up! This is my hope for evolution!"
After leaving the Spirit Gathering Array, Mu Chen headed straight for the Task Hall.
He checked the task list and found that a task he had originally been interested in had been taken. Helpless, he could only search again, muttering as he searched:
"Why doesn't this Spirit Value token have a reservation function? Like this, if I don't find a suitable task, wouldn't it be a wasted trip?"
The Task Hall was not as grand as the Spiritual Value Hall or the Spirit Skill Hall; it was just an ordinary hall a few hundred zhang tall, incomparable to buildings that were tens of thousands of zhang, but its importance was not low at all.
A beautiful girl sitting behind a counter smiled:
"You're not the first person to say that. Unfortunately, the Spiritual Array Master who designed the Spirit Value token system isn't in the academy right now. If you want to add functions, you'll have to wait until he returns."
Seeing her speak to him, Mu Chen greeted her with a slight hesitation: "Hello, Instructor."
"Haha, I'm not an instructor! I'm also a student, just not very talented, so I can only do some simple tasks to barely earn some Spirit Value points," the girl said, waving her hands repeatedly.
"Are there any tasks that are short, offer a lot of Spirit Value, and have a high risk? That's fine."
Mu Chen had become accustomed to the 500,000 reward from the Freshmen Tournament, so he didn't quite fancy ordinary tasks worth 30,000 or 40,000 Spirit Value points.
"What's your merit level? I'll help you check."
"Merit level?" A hint of doubt flashed in Mu Chen's eyes. "What's that?"
The girl looked at him with a strange expression:
"You don't even know this? Tasks are categorized by level, and some difficult tasks also carry very high risks.
"To prevent students from rashly taking on tasks and incurring unnecessary casualties, the academy introduced a merit level system. Only with a corresponding merit level can one undertake high-difficulty tasks."
"Then how do I raise my merit level?" Mu Chen asked.
"Take on tasks, starting from low-difficulty ones. You're not taking a task for the first time, are you?"
Mu Chen nodded: "I'm a freshman this year."
The pretty girl sighed and advised, "You should still be down-to-earth and not aim too high. Listen to my advice: those high-difficulty tasks can really kill people."
Mu Chen rubbed his nose, a hint of helplessness flashing across his face. He muttered to himself… Why are there levels? Does he really have to do those low-level tasks with poor cost-effectiveness just to raise his merit level?
"Is there any other way besides this?" Mu Chen asked.
The girl did not try to persuade him further; a kind reminder was enough. If others didn't listen, that was their business.
She replied, "If you are truly confident in your strength, you can also have senior students with high merit levels take you along as a team."
"This way, you can participate in high-level tasks, and accordingly, your merit level will also rise very quickly."
Senior students… Mu Chen thought about it; he knew very few people so far, and the only senior students he could think of were Hun Jin and Hun Yufeng.
However, he knew his limits; those two's tasks were not something he could participate in at his current stage.
"Hey, I finally found you, busy man." A voice came from behind, and Mu Chen felt a pat on his shoulder.
He turned around and saw a smiling Hun Hunsheng.
"It's you… Hun Guniang."
"Come with me, I have something to talk to you about."
Hun Hunsheng led Mu Chen to a secluded spot, scrutinized him for a moment, and said:
"Oh, wow, Late Stage of the Heaven Merging Realm. You're progressing quite fast. Perfect, I have a special task here. Want to join?"
Mu Chen's eyes lit up… This was truly a pillow delivered just when he was sleepy. He immediately asked, "What special task?"
"It's a Spirit Treasure task. The reward is twelve and a half million Spirit Value per person. There are four of us going to a certain Spirit Treasure location to find something," Hun Hunsheng replied.
A Spirit Treasure location is where a powerful cultivator has fallen. It might contain various treasures left behind by the fallen cultivator, or even inheritances.
A Spirit Treasure task, simply put, is to explore ancient caves passed down from antiquity. The items obtained generally do not need to be handed over to the academy; it's essentially taking the information collected by the academy to reap the rewards, considered a welfare provided by the academy to its students.
Therefore, this type of task is often the most popular.
However, there is great uncertainty during the exploration of Spirit Treasures, and even more students die in them than in bounty hunting tasks.
"Twelve and a half million Spirit Value per person?"
Hiss… Mu Chen gasped. With this one task, he could buy the Nine Netherworld Sparrow's essence blood!
"What kind of Spirit Treasure? What are we looking for?" Mu Chen felt a little uneasy…
Is this something a freshman like me can participate in?
Spirit Value is good, and Spirit Treasures are tempting, but one needs to be alive to claim them!
Hun Hunsheng leaned in closer and whispered via sound transmission:
"The White Dragon Supreme's Spirit Treasure. As for what we're looking for… I'm not sure either. Only when we reach the destination will the Young Clan Leader tell us… Oh, and once we find this thing, we can't keep it ourselves; we need to hand it over."
"There are four people for the task: the Young Clan Leader leading, plus Hun Jin, me, and you."
Hiss… A Supreme Spirit Treasure, Mu Chen gasped again.
Mu Chen hesitated: "Why choose me? With a Supreme Spirit Treasure competition, a small Heaven Merging Realm like me would only be a burden, wouldn't I?"
The Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy is located on the North Cang Continent, and Supreme experts are beings who can dominate the North Cang Continent.
Once news of a Spirit Treasure of that level spreads, the entire North Cang Continent would boil over.
Hun Hunsheng counted on his fingers and replied:
"First, the Young Clan Leader values your potential and wants to give you a hand. Just consider it an investment."
"Second, he wants to set up a formation. Although he brought a formation plate, we could manage it, but with a Spiritual Array Master assisting, it would be even more secure."
"Third, we investigated you… Hmm, I hope you don't mind. Since entering the North Cang Realm, you've grown from a rookie in the Late Stage of the Spirit Wheel Realm to a strong cultivator in the Late Stage of the Heaven Merging Realm. There have been many fortuitous encounters in between. We think you have good luck, and luck is also part of strength!"
"Fourth, your combat power has always been excellent. Now, with your Late Stage of the Heaven Merging Realm cultivation, you should be able to contend with opponents in the Late Stage of the Heaven Transformation Realm."
"This is enough for self-preservation… After all, the news of the Supreme Spirit Treasure hasn't spread; everyone else thinks it's just a Heavenly Through Spirit Treasure."
"Fifth, and most importantly, the Young Clan Leader is very strong! Even if he whimsically brings a Spirit Wheel Realm freshman in, he has the confidence to bring him out alive!"
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