The entire arena was silent, eerily so.
As they sensed the fluctuations of Spiritual Power emanating from Mu Yuan, the expressions on the faces of the many students present were quite remarkable.
After a moment, excited shouts erupted, echoing through the arena like a whirlwind.
"Spirit Sensing Stage!"
"Brother Yuan can sense the Spiritual Energy of the heavens and earth!!"
The Spirit Sensing Stage was only the first step in cultivation, not something to cause such a fuss.
But the one who had broken through was none other than Mu Yuan.
Mu Yuan, despite having no cultivation, had managed to toy with Liu Che and the others.
His mental fortitude was unmatched among his peers.
Everyone had always felt it was a pity that he couldn't cultivate.
They had anticipated it for three years, waited for three years.
Now, Mu Yuan could finally begin cultivating.
He walked to the stone platform, exhaled a breath, and then sat cross-legged, assuming a meditative posture.
Now that he could cultivate, he was eager to test his cultivation speed.
Three years. Beneath his seemingly carefree exterior, a layer of melancholy had lingered, but now, it was finally over.
The scorching sun beat down on Mu Yuan. The young man looked up, directly into the sunlight, his squinting eyes radiating a powerful self-assurance.
Mu Chen gazed ahead, a brilliant smile spreading across his youthful face.
"Brother Yuan, I knew it. You're no ordinary person."
"If Father knew about this, he'd be even happier."
Mu Yuan naturally possessed a commanding presence.
Even without being able to cultivate, he could still command respect.
In fact, within the Mu Domain, Mu Yuan's reputation was even higher than his own.
Even though he had once obtained the qualification for the Spiritual Path.
Tang Qian'er's beautiful big eyes immediately widened, covering her red lips, her small face filled with shock.
However, that wasn't all.
As Mu Yuan cultivated, the nearly invisible, subtle light surrounding him grew increasingly numerous.
"How is that possible?"
The Spirit Sensing Stage, as the name suggests, is about sensing the spiritual energy of the world.
Those nearly invisible, subtle lights were the spiritual energy floating between heaven and earth.
When the sensed spiritual energy reached the saturation point of one's capacity, one could absorb the spiritual energy into their body and enter the Spirit Movement Stage.
But looking at Mu Yuan's situation, it didn't seem like he had just broken through the Spirit Sensing Stage and sensed the spiritual energy. He clearly was close to reaching the mid-Spirit Sensing Stage.
"To break through two stages in almost a single day… that kind of cultivation speed is simply shocking. Even Liu Yang, with his Spiritual Vein, couldn't do that."
Mu Chen spoke in astonishment.
Back then, it had taken him three days to achieve something similar.
Thinking back to what Mu Yuan had said earlier, it turned out he wasn't just talking big.
The gazes of many young people toward Mu Yuan were suddenly filled with fervor and admiration.
Brother Yuan, still Brother Yuan, always so dazzling, no matter the field!
Tang Qian'er: "…"
"Freak!"
"I really don't know why you didn't qualify for the Spiritual Path back then."
Tang Qian'er stuck out her red, fragrant tongue, looking extremely cute and charming.
"I heard the Dean say the Spiritual Path has officially ended."
"Your freakish cultivation speed is already comparable to many of the guys in the Spiritual Path."
"They say an extremely terrifying guy appeared in the Spiritual Path this time, and he seems to have a once-in-a-millennium Heavenly Spiritual Vein."
"The Five Great Academies were fighting tooth and nail to snatch him up."
"A Heavenly Spiritual Vein, huh? I've never even seen one."
"But, seeing your rocket-like cultivation speed now, I can probably imagine how terrifying a Heavenly Spiritual Vein is."
Tang Qian'er's father was also one of the lords of the Northern Spirit Realm.
For all the years that the Northern Spirit Academy and the Northern Spirit Realm had existed, a Heavenly Spiritual Vein had never appeared, let alone an Earthly Spiritual Vein. This showed just how rare the Heavenly Spiritual Vein was.
Tilting her head, Tang Qian'er suddenly fixed her gaze on Mu Chen and asked,
"I almost forgot, you also participated in the Spiritual Path. Do you know who that guy with the Heavenly Spiritual Vein is?"
She didn't notice that Mu Chen's body had stiffened slightly the moment he heard the words "Spiritual Path".
"I think his name is Ji Xuan, right?"
Mu Chen said calmly, a name that was etched in his memory.
"You know him?"
Tang Qian'er said in surprise.
"Not really."
Mu Chen's eyes lowered slightly.
That guy was indeed very strong.
They knew each other, but they weren't friends. He had almost killed that guy back then.
"Forget it, let's not talk about him."
Seeing Mu Chen's expression, it was obvious he didn't want to talk about it. These two brothers were the same, Tang Qian'er waved her jade hand and couldn't help but huff:
"There are only ten days left until the Academy Trials, Mu Yuan, I don't know what you're planning, but even if you truly are a cultivation genius, it's impossible to surpass Liu Yang in ten days. Liu Yang has already started cultivating Spirit Techniques."
She didn't have any faith that Mu Yuan could create a miracle within ten days.
After cultivating a cultivation method or Spirit Technique, one would transform the spiritual energy within their body into true Spiritual Power.
Spiritual Power had already undergone a qualitative change, becoming several times stronger than spiritual energy.
A Spirit Movement Stage cultivator who had cultivated Spirit Techniques could effortlessly crush a Spirit Sensing Stage cultivator.
"Even if you have numerous methods, they're still useless in the face of absolute strength."
"However, since you can cultivate now, I'm not worried about you being crippled by Liu Yang during the Academy Trials."
"Mu Chen, we in the Eastern Academy are still relying on you to turn the tide that day."
With that, Tang Qian'er flicked her black ponytail and, swaying her slender waist, gracefully departed.
Although Mu Domain wasn't the most powerful domain in the Northern Spirit Realm, it was the most prosperous, and it likely possessed some decent Spirit Techniques.
Looking at Tang Qian'er's departing, beautiful figure, Mu Chen once again thought of the proud girl from the Spiritual Path.
After they parted, the girl had gazed at him with a pair of deep, bottomless, azure eyes.
"I'll be waiting for you in the Five Great Academies. If you don't come..."
The girl's slender hand held the black longsword, slowly stopping in front of his chest.
Suddenly, someone patted his shoulder lightly.
Mu Chen turned his head and saw Mu Yuan smiling at him, saying,
"Little Mu, from the look on your face, I can tell you're lovesick. Tell your brother, which girl have you hooked up with?"
"Brother Yuan, don't talk nonsense, it's not like that."
Mu Chen quickly shook his head.
He didn't want to admit it at all.
"Trying to fool me, huh? Isn't it that girl you met on the Spiritual Path? Her name is Luo Li, right?"
Mu Yuan's eyes twinkled with amusement, and he exposed the secret directly.
"Ah?"
"Brother Yuan, you… how did you know?"
This was a big secret in Mu Chen's heart. Besides himself, no one in Mu Domain should know about it.
Mu Yuan rolled his eyes.
As the originally designated female lead of Great Ruler, he knew everything about Mu Chen and Luo Li's meeting.
The two met on the Spiritual Path. At the beginning of their acquaintance, this kid was inexplicably chased and killed by Luo Li for over half a year.
The so-called Spiritual Path was actually an enormous trial ground, created by the "Five Great Academies".
The Spiritual Path would open every three years.
The selection process for the Spiritual Path was rather peculiar. It wasn't a matter of human selection, but rather determined by a divine artifact called the "Mirror of Judgement".
Of course, Mu Yuan wouldn't say any of this.
Without changing his expression, he blurted out a lie:
"You've been back from the Spiritual Path for a while now, and every other night you talk in your sleep. You've shouted Luo Li's name no less than nine hundred and ninety-nine times. How could I not know?"
Mu Chen: "..."
He really wanted to find a hole to crawl into right now.
(End of Chapter)