Chapter 18

Surprise rippled through Mu Chen's heart. Clearly, this sudden breakthrough was far beyond his expectations. Originally, he thought it would take nearly ten days to break through the Great Floating Pagoda Technique to the Foundation Establishment stage...

Mu Chen's heart remained in a state of pleasant surprise for quite some time before gradually calming down. Then, he did not dare to be negligent, quickly gathering his thoughts and carefully sensing the wondrous feeling.

Within his Sea of Qi, the dark spiritual energy was boiling. In this boiling, Mu Chen could feel the strength of the spiritual energy rapidly increasing. Moreover, Mu Chen could also sense that his body seemed to be emitting a powerful suction force, greedily absorbing the spiritual energy from the surroundings. After being refined by the Great Floating Pagoda Technique, it transformed into strands of dark spiritual energy that flowed into the Sea of Qi.

Feeling the rapidly strengthening spiritual energy in his Sea of Qi, a deep sense of comfort spread through Mu Chen's limbs and bones.

While Mu Chen was immersed in the pleasure of the technique's breakthrough, the training ground suddenly became agitated. Everyone could feel a powerful suction force emanating from Mu Chen's body, greedily absorbing the abundant spiritual energy in the training ground.

This commotion immediately caught everyone's attention. Many surprised gazes swept through the area, finally settling on Mu Chen's body.

"What's happening?!"

"It's Mu Chen. What is he doing?"

"Such a domineering absorption. He can absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth so forcefully, isn't he afraid of being overwhelmed?!"

"..."

Whispers of shock erupted in the training ground. Everyone's faces were filled with surprise and uncertainty, clearly encountering such a situation for the first time.

"Mu Chen."

Tang Qian'er also opened her beautiful eyes, looking at Mu Chen with concern.

"Don't panic."

Teacher Mo's steady voice echoed, covering all the whispers and calming the students. Then, his gaze fell on Mu Chen, his brows slightly furrowed. "This is his spiritual technique breaking through, there's no need to worry."

"A spiritual technique?"

The students were stunned again. The breakthrough of a spiritual technique could cause such a commotion. What level of spiritual technique was Mu Chen cultivating? From the looks of it, it must be at least a middle-grade Spirit Rank technique.

Jiang Li and Teng Yong also looked at Mu Chen with shock, a hint of fear flashing in their eyes. Although they were also at the middle-stage of the Spirit Movement Realm, they could feel a great pressure from Mu Chen.

"Hmph, it seems his father has prepared a decent spiritual technique for him."

Luo Tong sneered, his words filled with unwillingness and jealousy. Although the spiritual technique he cultivated was not weak, reaching the lower-grade Spirit Rank, it still seemed to be a bit inferior to Mu Chen's.

This made Luo Tong extremely angry. Compared to Mu Chen, he seemed to have no advantage at all, except for... age.

Teacher Mo watched Mu Chen, who was greedily absorbing spiritual energy, and couldn't help but praise him in his heart. He could sense that the spiritual technique Mu Chen was cultivating was not ordinary. However, he was not a shallow person like Luo Tong. The higher the rank of the spiritual technique, the harder it was to cultivate, and breaking through was even more difficult. Mu Chen had been cultivating this spiritual technique for no more than a month, yet he had managed to break through. This kind of talent... was quite remarkable.

"Truly worthy of someone who has qualified for the Spirit Path."

Teacher Mo smiled. Although Mu Chen had lost a year of cultivation time on the Spirit Path, with his talent, catching up would not be difficult. It seemed that Liu Mu Bai from the West Academy would also meet his match.

Mu Chen was unaware of the commotion in the training ground. He was still immersed in the wondrous feeling of the spiritual technique's breakthrough. As the spiritual energy flowed into his body and transformed into strands of dark spiritual energy, the sense of fullness made Mu Chen feel refreshed and content.

Mu Chen's mind sank into his Sea of Qi, where the originally thin strands of dark spiritual energy had now grown to a considerable size. The spiritual energy swirled together, resembling a black nebula, mysterious and unfathomable.

Above the spiritual energy, a black paper floated silently, unaffected by the swirling spiritual energy, remaining motionless.

Buzz.

The dark spiritual energy in Mu Chen's Sea of Qi began to rotate, and suddenly, a low hum seemed to resonate in the depths of his mind. His heart trembled, and his mind scanned his body, only to discover that several dark light points had suddenly appeared within him...

Rustle.

The spiritual energy in the Sea of Qi, as if responding to the light points, began to flow out of the Sea of Qi and circulate through his meridians. When the spiritual energy passed through the dark light points, Mu Chen vaguely sensed that some of the spiritual energy was being absorbed by these points.

"What's happening?!"

This sudden change startled Mu Chen. These dark light points appeared abruptly and seemed completely beyond his control. He couldn't even detect them.

"Is it because of the Great Floating Pagoda Technique?"

Mu Chen's thoughts raced, and then a flash of insight struck him. This change was clearly related to his breakthrough to the Foundation Establishment stage of the Great Floating Pagoda Technique.

"These light points..."

Mu Chen's mind scanned the mysterious dark light points scattered throughout his body. After a moment, his heart suddenly jolted. He realized that if he connected these faint dark light points, they seemed to form... a spiritual vein?!

Spiritual vein?

The term flashed through Mu Chen's mind, causing a tumult of emotions. He knew very well that he did not possess a spiritual vein, not even the lowest-grade human-level spiritual vein. He had verified this many times. But what were these dark light points that appeared in his body?

As Mu Chen was overwhelmed by shock, the dark light points vanished like a fleeting flower, leaving no trace despite his efforts to sense them. It was as if they had never existed.

"How can this be..."

Mu Chen muttered to himself, his mind filled with confusion. After a long while, he began to analyze the situation carefully. What he had just witnessed was definitely not an illusion. Something seemed to be hidden deep within his body, and this hidden presence might be related to the Great Floating Pagoda Technique.

"Great Floating Pagoda Technique... Mother?"

Mu Chen's heart trembled. The Great Floating Pagoda Technique was left to him by his mother. If that was the case, this must be related to her. Perhaps she had hidden something within his body.

Why did she do this?

Mu Chen thought for a long time but found no answers. His memories of his mother were few, only a vague but extremely gentle image in his heart. Although he knew little about her, the blood connection made him believe without a doubt that his mother would never do anything to harm him.

Thinking of this, Mu Chen's heart gradually calmed down. Regardless of whether his guess was correct, as long as he believed it was not harmful, that was enough.

As for the rest, he would ask his father when he had the chance to return home. He felt that his father must know something about this, even though he had never mentioned it.

With this thought, Mu Chen gathered his mind, drew the dark spiritual energy back into his Sea of Qi, and exited his cultivation state. His tightly closed eyes slowly opened.

As soon as his eyes opened, Mu Chen sensed something was amiss. He then noticed the gazes fixed on him and was taken aback.

"What's wrong?"

Mu Chen blinked, looking at the gazes fixed on him, somewhat puzzled.

The surrounding students, upon hearing his words, looked at him with strange expressions. You caused such a commotion and didn't even know?

"Mu Chen, are you okay?" Tang Qian'er asked with concern, then recounted what had happened.

"I'm fine." Mu Chen finally understood, smiling and shaking his head. Today's breakthrough of the spiritual technique was likely due to the Spirit Gathering Array here. Otherwise, it might have taken him more time to reach the Foundation Establishment stage. A third-grade Spirit Gathering Array was indeed extraordinary.

"Let's end today's training session here. The rest of the time is yours to arrange." Teacher Mo nodded at Mu Chen and then looked at the students.

"Yes!"

The students all respectfully responded.

Teacher Mo waved his hand and left without further delay.

As soon as Teacher Mo left, the atmosphere in the training ground relaxed, and laughter and chatter filled the air. However, many gazes still lingered on Mu Chen.

Perhaps because of the commotion Mu Chen had caused, even though Teacher Mo had left, Luo Tong, Jiang Li, and others did not come to cause trouble. Instead, they looked at him with a mix of gloom and wariness before shifting their gazes away.

"Let's go." Mu Chen stood up, clapping his hands.

"Where to?" Tang Qian'er asked.

"To the spiritual technique room."

Mu Chen smiled, looking at the other side of the training ground. "I'm very interested in an attack spiritual technique there. Now, I can finally cultivate it..."

(At the start of a new week, I sincerely ask for your recommendations!)