Chapter 97

Boom!

Rumbling spiritual energy surged through Mu Chen’s limbs like a raging flood, the feeling of fullness causing his meridians to ache slightly, clearly indicating that they were reaching their limit of endurance.

Mu Chen clearly understood the situation within his body and immediately began to circulate the Great Pagoda Art, driving the vast spiritual energy to flow along the path of the art.

Wave after wave of spiritual energy was refined by the Great Pagoda Art, then transformed into dark spiritual energy, which all drilled into his Sea of Qi, merging with the spiritual energy light wheel.

As the vast spiritual energy poured in, the originally pigeon-egg-sized spiritual energy light wheel slowly grew, the light of the spiritual energy becoming increasingly bright.

Huff.

The entire Sea of Qi seemed to be in turmoil, and the commotion also woke the Netherbird trapped within the dark purple Mandala flower. It watched this scene with a cold and fierce gaze.

After observing for a moment, it slowly stood up, and its black wings, burning with black flames, suddenly lashed out fiercely at the prison that enveloped it.

Buzz!

However, in response to its attack, the light barrier formed by the Mandala flower only rippled slightly, showing no signs of breaking. This made a hateful look flash across its eyes. Now was the perfect opportunity to ambush Mu Chen, but this hateful prison sealed it so tightly that it couldn’t use any of its abilities.

Mu Chen, however, had no time to deal with the Netherbird’s small actions. He focused all his attention on controlling the surging spiritual energy within his body. At this moment, he couldn’t afford the slightest mistake.

The spiritual energy continuously roared through his meridians, the high-speed circulation causing Mu Chen’s meridians to ache slightly. The amount of spiritual energy that had surged into his body was truly immense.

But thinking about this at such a time was clearly unhelpful, so Mu Chen steadied his mind and pushed the Great Pagoda Art to its limits, continuously refining the violent spiritual energy.

Time quickly passed, and in the blink of an eye, two hours had gone by. During this time, the spiritual energy light wheel in Mu Chen’s Sea of Qi had expanded by a full circle, and he had now reached the middle stage of the Spirit Wheel Realm.

But there was still a considerable amount of spiritual energy surging within his body.

It was time to advance to the later stage of the Spirit Wheel Realm.

This thought flashed through Mu Chen’s mind, and he took a deep breath. The surging spiritual energy flowing through his meridians suddenly accelerated, rushing along the path of the Great Pagoda Art.

The speed caused his meridians to contract slightly, but Mu Chen paid no attention. The dominance of the Great Pagoda Art was enough to control this violent spiritual energy, which, in his body, was as docile as a lamb.

"Let all of you become part of my spiritual energy!"

Mu Chen murmured to himself. On the light wheel in his Sea of Qi, the light condensed and formed a phantom light tower. This tower swayed, and like a whale sucking water, it absorbed all the surging spiritual energy. As a large amount of spiritual energy was infused, the phantom light tower seemed to become slightly more solid.

Buzz, buzz.

The speed at which the light tower absorbed the spiritual energy was terrifying. In just a few minutes, the vast spiritual energy that had filled Mu Chen’s meridians was completely absorbed.

With the absorption of such vast spiritual energy, the phantom light tower seemed to become a bit clearer, which made Mu Chen marvel. If he wanted to solidify this phantom light tower, how much spiritual energy would it require?

Mu Chen marveled and smacked his lips, then his mind moved, and the light tower slowly dissipated, transforming into a beam of light that merged into the spiritual energy light wheel.

Thud!

As the beam of light shot into the spiritual energy light wheel, the light wheel trembled violently, emitting waves of powerful spiritual energy. The size of the spiritual energy light wheel visibly expanded.

In just a few breaths, the spiritual energy light wheel had expanded to the size of a baby’s fist, with spiritual energy waves surrounding it, appearing deep and profound, like a nebula enveloping the stars.

A powerful wave of spiritual energy rippled out from Mu Chen’s body, making him feel as if all his pores were opening, a feeling of comfort that was indescribable.

Mu Chen sensed the spiritual energy light wheel with a sense of joy, and the strength it conveyed was indeed at the later stage of the Spirit Wheel Realm!

Through the hard work of these past days, with the help of the Nine-Whiskered Blood Ginseng and the Great Pagoda Art, he had finally reached this realm. If he could take one more step, he would become a powerful expert in the Divine Soul Realm!

That level was almost a qualitative change in cultivation. In the Northern Spirit Realm, while those at the later stage of the Spirit Wheel Realm were considered powerful, they were not rare. However, to truly become the leader of a force, one had to be a powerful expert in the Divine Soul Realm.

Everyone knew that the capabilities of a Divine Soul Realm expert were far beyond those of someone at the later stage of the Spirit Wheel Realm. No matter how many subordinates at the later stage of the Spirit Wheel Realm one had, it was not as convincing as one’s own advancement to the Divine Soul Realm.

These were two completely different levels, representing vastly different levels of authority.

Mu Chen sensed the powerful feeling within his body and nodded in satisfaction. Then his mind turned to the Netherbird trapped in his Sea of Qi.

Although he had focused all his attention on refining the spiritual energy earlier, he had not ignored the Netherbird’s actions.

The Netherbird also sensed Mu Chen’s attention but only gave a cold glance before lazily lying down.

"Feathered bird, even though you are now like a tiger fallen on hard times, can’t you behave yourself?" Mu Chen said with a cold smile.

"You are courting death!"

Hearing Mu Chen call it a feathered bird, the Netherbird was enraged. Its black-flame-burning wings flapped fiercely, and a cold intent was transmitted.

"If you kill me, you won’t gain anything. So you’d better behave yourself!" Mu Chen said coldly.

"With your strength at the later stage of the Spirit Wheel Realm, you are not even as significant as an ant to me. Do you dare to scold me?" The Netherbird’s intent was rolling, filled with cold killing intent.

"Do you really think that just because I am trapped in your body, you have won? This Mandala flower is not something you can control!"

Hearing this, Mu Chen’s heart flared with anger. His mind moved, and he drifted toward the prison formed by the Mandala flower, then slowly touched it.

As he touched it, Mu Chen was particularly nervous. He indeed couldn’t control the mysterious Mandala flower that had emerged from the black paper, but no matter what, it was the only thing that could restrain the Netherbird. He had to try, or the Netherbird would never take his words seriously.

To his surprise, when Mu Chen carefully touched the Mandala flower, the expected backlash did not occur. Instead, his mind gradually merged with the Mandala flower.

At that moment, Mu Chen had a faint feeling that he had gained a bit of control over the Mandala flower.

This feeling made Mu Chen momentarily stunned. After a moment, an uncontrollable joy surged in his heart, and he then looked at the Netherbird with a somewhat malicious expression.

The Netherbird also seemed to sense something, its black wings drawing back uneasily, its eyes wary.

"Dead feathered bird, I’ll make you pay for trying to harm me!"

Mu Chen chuckled, and his mind moved. The large petals of the Mandala flower slowly unfolded, then slapped the Netherbird like a hand.

Bang!

Caught off guard, the Netherbird was hit by a petal, emitting a painful cry. The black flames on its body dimmed, and a look of panic finally appeared in its eyes.

Clearly, it hadn’t expected Mu Chen to actually be able to activate the mysterious Mandala flower.

Seeing this, Mu Chen felt a sense of joy. He had endured a lot from the Netherbird during this time. Now that he finally had some means, he immediately activated the Mandala flower, continuously slapping the Netherbird.

The Netherbird dodged clumsily, and each time it was hit by a petal, the black flames on its body dimmed, causing it to feel some fear. The Mandala flower seemed to be able to absorb its strength, which was extremely strange.

"Mu Chen, don’t go too far, do you think I won’t fight to the death with you?" After several clumsy dodges, the Netherbird also went berserk, its feathers standing on end, its intent filled with rage and fear.

"Hmph, this is the lesson you deserve. If you want to stay in my body, behave yourself. If you have any evil intentions, don’t blame me for being ruthless," Mu Chen said coldly. He didn’t dare to push the Netherbird too hard, as it was not an ordinary existence. Although it was now like a tiger fallen on hard times, who knew if it had any ultimate means? If it was provoked to fight to the death, Mu Chen couldn’t afford the consequences.

The Netherbird’s eyes were filled with hatred, but it finally stopped showing disdain and mockery, shaking its feathers and lying down. Now that Mu Chen could control the Mandala flower, it didn’t want to provoke him too much.

Seeing the Netherbird finally submit, Mu Chen also breathed a sigh of relief. Then his mind withdrew from the Mandala flower, but as he withdrew, he suddenly felt a dizzy sensation, a fatigue spreading through him, making him drowsy.

"Controlling this Mandala flower is so draining."

Mu Chen was startled, suppressing the fatigue. This Mandala flower was indeed peculiar. Just a rough activation had almost made him fall asleep. If he really needed to use it for something, he would probably faint.

"It seems I can’t use it frequently."

Mu Chen muttered to himself, then his mind quietly withdrew from his body. Although the consumption was great, at least he now had some means to make the Netherbird wary.

"Feathered bird, once I advance to the Divine Soul Realm, I’ll deal with you properly!"

(To be continued)