Chapter 484 - 476: Mission

Chapter 484: Chapter 476: Mission

After muttering these words to himself, the aged figure vanished on the spot. He was Dilaka. Worried about the various difficulties Mu Chen might face, Dilaka hadn’t dealt with any student affairs all day and had been silently following him. He had witnessed everything: Mu Chen’s strange encounter with Chu Aoqing and Shan Ziyan, and even Brom’s schemes. But he had not intervened. He knew Mu Chen’s life wasn’t in danger from that blow and, more importantly, understood this was the catalyst for Mu Chen’s complete evolution. So, he chose to remain silent, to let Mu Chen face it on his own. Yet, when he truly saw Mu Chen’s weakened figure, he couldn’t help but want to do something for him.

...

Dragging his heavy feet and exhausted body, Mu Chen used the last shred of strength and consciousness he had left to painstakingly open his door. Stepping inside, turning, and closing it—these three incredibly simple actions took him ten times longer than an ordinary person.

After shutting the door tight, his will could no longer support his wound-riddled body. With a heavy thud, he collapsed unconscious in the entryway. This was the most grievous injury he had ever sustained. The last thought that surfaced in his mind before he passed out was, ’As soon as I wake up, I won’t waste another second.’

Mu Chen didn’t know that the moment he fell, the White Dragon Cauldron hidden within his chest suddenly spun a few times. Accompanied by a soft, melodious dragon’s cry, the White Dragon Cauldron actually emerged from his body on its own and hovered steadily just above his chest.

Nine white dragons constantly circled and weaved around the cauldron’s body, letting out long cries as if they were brewing something. A moment after the White Dragon Cauldron entered this strange state, it let out a soft DING and trembled violently. Then, the Seven-Colored Glaze and the Stone Immortal, originally stored within, spontaneously rose out from its body. They hovered in the center of the cauldron’s mouth, emitting a gentle aura.

Seeing this, the nine white dragons acted as if they had received a command. They opened their great mouths and bit into the gentle white aura enveloping the two Supreme Medicinal Herbs. After each dragon took a bite, it seeped into a different part of Mu Chen’s chest. Only after the ninth dragon had done so did the White Dragon Cauldron draw the now slightly dimmer Stone Immortal and Seven-Colored Glaze back inside. Rotating slowly, the cauldron’s body sank back into Mu Chen, disappearing as if it had never been there.

The White Dragon Cauldron... was healing Mu Chen on its own! With no one guiding it!!

If an ancestor from the Ding Palace were here now, they would be stunned beyond belief, for this strange phenomenon had a name within the Ding Palace... White Dragon Healing.

Meanwhile, as Mu Chen was receiving the White Dragon Healing, far away at the top of a pillar of light, in a private residence on the Fourth Level, a young woman in a light-green dress was angrily scolding an elderly man. The old man could only stand to the side, shaking his head with a wry smile, unable to get a word in.

"Grandpa! Tell me, tell me! Why would Grandpa Dilaka suddenly give Sister Qing’Er a mission like this?!"

The one speaking so familiarly was, of course, Shan Ziyan, and the man she called Grandpa was none other than the Second Elder of Holy Tomb Mountain, Shan Qiuhen.

"It must be that playboy Mu Chen! He’s coveting Sister Qing’Er’s beauty and deliberately had Grandpa Dilaka issue this mission, right?!" Shan Ziyan hissed hysterically.

Shan Qiuhen replied helplessly, "Playboy? Deliberately had Dilaka issue it? Let me put it this way: Mu Chen’s current status is in no way inferior to yours. He’s the precious disciple that Dilaka treasures as if he were his own life."

"It’s been hundreds of years! Dilaka has only just found a treasure like him, so of course he’s going to give him the most comprehensive protection. As for your brother, Tianyu, he’s arrogant and flaunts his talent, acting like he owns the Inner Mountain. Would Dilaka feel at ease with that? So he had no choice but to pin his last hopes on Aoqing, the biggest uncertainty. And unexpectedly, Aoqing agreed in a heartbeat. She agreed to it herself—what can you do about it?"

Hearing this, Shan Ziyan became completely unreasonable and shouted, "I don’t care, I don’t care! In any case, Sister Aoqing going to his side is like a sheep entering a tiger’s den!!"

Ignoring Shan Ziyan’s shouting, Shan Qiuhen continued to reason, "’A sheep entering a tiger’s den?! Do you not know what kind of power Aoqing possesses? That kid, Mu Chen, is no tiger to begin with. But even if he were, Aoqing would beat him to a pulp. Stop worrying and focus on your Cultivation. When you finally reach Aoqing’s level, then I’ll be able to rest easy."

"I won’t—"

"Enough! This is utter nonsense! You know what Dilaka is like. He doesn’t make decisions lightly, but once he has, never mind me—not even the Dean himself could necessarily sway him! I have a pile of matters to attend to in the Inner Mountain. Either go cultivate, or go talk to Aoqing yourself."

With that, Shan Qiuhen flicked his sleeves and left the room without a backward glance, leaving Shan Ziyan staring blankly into space. This was the first time Shan Qiuhen had ever lost his temper with her, and the first time she had ever been so unreasonable. She didn’t know why, but she’d felt extremely uncomfortable from the first moment she saw Mu Chen. Thinking about it, the reason was that while everyone else had been staring at her, he was off to the side, happily chatting with two other women whose beauty was in no way inferior to her own. ’Now that I think about it,’ she wondered, ’what in the world is wrong with me?’

"No! I still have to go stop Sister Qing’Er!"

In the end, reason was defeated by her chaotic emotions. Shan Ziyan flew rapidly toward Chu Aoqing’s residence...

’Finally, I can put an end to this boring life. His name... is Mu Chen. Surname Mu. *Mu*... like *wood*. Heh, looks like I was overthinking things. How could that family possibly have such a weak member? Besides, his weapon is a sword.’

After tidying her room a bit, Chu Aoqing picked up a scroll and opened the door. But the instant the door swung open, a familiar figure charged inside.

"Sister Qing’Er! Don’t go!"

The moment she entered, Shan Ziyan threw herself into Chu Aoqing’s arms, causing Chu Aoqing a major headache. She wasn’t one for physical affection—something that perhaps stemmed from her childhood personality. But despite her repeated warnings, the girl before her, who seemed only two years younger, always turned a deaf ear. Every time they met, she did as she pleased, her favorite thing being to cling to Chu Aoqing.

Chu Aoqing’s words were, as always, concise and detached. "Ziyan, don’t go where?" It was as if she didn’t know what emotions were. Or perhaps, to put it another way, she was simply slow on the uptake.

With tears welling in her eyes, Shan Ziyan pleaded, "Don’t go to that playboy’s place! He’s not a good person, really, believe me. He’s surrounded by beautiful women—he’s a total pervert! Sister Qing’Er, you’re walking into a tiger’s den!"

Chu Aoqing was surprised. She found it very strange that Shan Ziyan was warning her, over and over, that Mu Chen was a playboy surrounded by beautiful women.

’But from what I’ve seen, the way Mu Chen looks at me is completely different from those so-called ’proper gentlemen.’ At least, his gaze holds no lust, no other impurities. And that Blood Oath he mentioned today only further demonstrated his forthright nature and his clear sense of love and hate. A person like that is either such a phenomenal actor that he could even deceive my eyes, or he’s someone who truly has principles.’

"Is that so? But the reward the Grand Elder is offering for this mission is ridiculously generous. Besides, I’ve grown weary of life and Cultivation on the Fourth Level—so weary that I feel like I’ve lost my purpose. Perhaps this is the opportunity I need to break through my current bottleneck?"

Gently stroking Shan Ziyan’s hair, Chu Aoqing casually picked up the Wide Blade Heavy Sword that Mu Chen had seen before. With a flick of her fingers and a twist of her wrist, she slung it onto her back. There was no Sword Scabbard, not even a strap. Supporting the heavy sword was a nearly invisible wisp of Primordial Power.

Next, her gaze fell upon a black wooden box beside her bed. The box was about one and a half meters long and two palms wide, and it was impossible to tell what it contained from the outside. Walking past Shan Ziyan, Chu Aoqing went to the box and gently caressed its surface. With a flick of her hands, she opened it. A stream of light burst forth, flickering for a moment before vanishing for no apparent reason.

All that remained in the black box was an ancient longsword. By all appearances, it was a Lady’s Sword. It was 1.4 meters long and two and a half finger-widths wide. The crossguard was a faint, Radiant Gold, while the Sword Hilt had the crystalline luster of white jade, giving it a rather peculiar look.

Reaching out with a delicate hand, Chu Aoqing gripped the Lady’s Sword in the box. She gently tucked it diagonally across her back, again holding it in place with a wisp of Primordial Power. Only after finishing all this did she return to Shan Ziyan’s side and speak softly, "You need to cultivate more in your free time. Your brother may be overly arrogant and somewhat shallow, but he is incredibly dedicated and hardworking when it comes to his training. Your talent is no less than his, yet you’re lazy by nature and easily distracted. Over time, the innate advantage you hold in the Martial Dao will gradually fade away. When you finally feel regret, it will be too late."

"If you ever need me, you can look for me on the First Level during meals. If I’m on the level, I should be able to sense you quickly. Also, Little Sister Ziyan..."

Leaving this strange, unfinished sentence hanging in the air, Chu Aoqing’s face flushed. To hide her blush, she silently left the room, leaving Shan Ziyan frozen in place.

’Sister Qing’Er... she... she actually called me ’little sister’...’

In all her memories, this was the first time Chu Aoqing had ever called her "little sister," and she was the first person Chu Aoqing had ever addressed so affectionately. Turning to watch that tall, slender, yet perfectly curvaceous figure depart, Shan Ziyan, for some reason, had a sudden feeling that once Chu Aoqing left the Fourth Level, she would never return...

Tears streamed down her face. Of the only two people on the Fourth Level who would put up with her and keep her company, one was now leaving. And the root cause of it all was *that guy*! A flicker of hatred appeared in her tear-filled eyes. It was this very hatred that would set her destiny on an irreversible new path...

The still-unconscious Mu Chen had no idea that, through no fault of his own, he had just taken another arrow to the knee, inexplicably raising Shan Ziyan’s hatred of him to the level of a mortal enemy.