Chapter 499 - 491: Direct Breakthrough, First-Ring Martial Sect

Chapter 499: Chapter 491: Direct Breakthrough, First-Ring Martial Sect

Chapter 601: A Direct Breakthrough, First-Ring Martial Sect!

"Let’s begin!"

A voice like crashing thunder boomed from Zhu Jiuqian’s lips. Master Ling nodded slightly, a sharp glint in his eyes as he abruptly released his hands from the Azure Celestial Cauldron. The instant he let go, a monstrous, four-colored Elemental Power Cannon erupted from the cauldron, blasting directly toward the bottom of the second level!

It was no exaggeration to say that if this terrifying force made contact with the second level, it would undoubtedly flip the entire structure over!

Seeing the four-colored Elemental Power Cannon about to strike the base of the second level, Zhu Jiuqian formed a hand seal and roared, "Secret Technique! Heaven-Devouring!!"

HUMMM!!

A droning hum suddenly descended from the sky. Zhu Jiuqian’s giant wine gourd, Jun Tian, trembled violently. In the blink of an eye, a massive black vortex expanded from the mouth of the gourd, emitting a terrifying gravitational pull.

In an instant, the air roiled as if a black hole had appeared. Countless streams of air suddenly solidified, turning into plumes of smoke that swept toward Jun Tian from all directions, vanishing into the black vortex without a trace!

The four-colored Elemental Power Cannon blasting from Master Ling’s Azure Celestial Cauldron continued on its trajectory, hurtling toward the second level’s base with an aura of destruction and explosive power. All seemed lost. But just as everyone watched in horror, Zhu Jiuqian snorted coldly, his powerful shout tearing through the sky!

"Devour!"

BOOM!

At that moment, the entire sky of the Inner Mountain Space plunged into complete darkness, as if it had been utterly devoured, leaving not a single speck of light. For some reason, all the students present seemed to hear the roar of a primeval beast. The giant gourd, Jun Tian, suddenly spat out a beam of crimson light that shot toward the four-colored Elemental Power Cannon.

Upon contact with the crimson beam, the four-colored Elemental Power Cannon shuddered violently as if it had met its nemesis, then reversed course and shot straight back into the gourd’s mouth, where it was completely absorbed in the blink of an eye.

"Tsk, tsk. A mere Four Attributes Fusion Combat Skill, and it was so troublesome to neutralize."

With a wave of his arm, the crimson gourd, Jun Tian, instantly shrank back to its original size and was snatched by Zhu Jiuqian.

"Of course it was. Neutralizing isn’t the same as destroying. Destruction is the simplest and most brutish method, but it yields the worst results. If we were in the Outer Realm, any one of us could have obliterated it with a casual Combat Skill. Old Di could have done it with a wave of his hand. But this is the Inner Mountain."

Master Ling retracted his Azure Celestial Cauldron and rolled his eyes in annoyance. He then turned his head to Shan Qiuhen and said, "It looks like your grandson lost this challenge. The power of that last Combat Skill was more than enough to kill him."

Shan Qiuhen gave a bitter smile, then sighed. "So be it. Mu Chen has indeed won this match. But the backlash from his Broken Ring technique is kicking in. Dilaka, shouldn’t you go check on him? A Broken Ring is no laughing matter."

As soon as Shan Qiuhen finished speaking, Mu Chen, who had been standing in mid-air, suddenly tipped backward and plummeted stiffly toward the ground. Down below, Wang Miaoling gasped, and up above, Dilaka was startled. But just as they were about to act, a beautiful figure shot up from the ground into the sky and gently caught Mu Chen in her arms.

With her purple hair fluttering, who else could it be but Chu Aoqing?

"Huh? Isn’t that Chu Aoqing? She knows this Mu Chen kid?" Zhu Jiuqian, who hadn’t left the Elder Space, was quite surprised.

"Heh heh... Now this is some juicy gossip!" Master Ling’s interest was suddenly piqued. "This kid is a legend! On his first day in the cafeteria, not only did he refuse my cooking, but he even got Chu Aoqing—who hasn’t shared a table with a single boy in her seven years in the Inner Mountain—to throw herself at him. I’m truly impressed. If I’d had that kind of charm back in the day, you, Shan Qiuhen, would never have had the chance to take... Er... I seem to have said too much."

"But Dilaka, you have me to thank for this."

Completely ignoring Shan Qiuhen, whose face had gone dark as soot, Master Ling turned to chat with Dilaka. It was obvious from Master Ling’s words that he and Shan Qiuhen shared some secret history from their youth.

Dilaka cleared his throat. He did indeed have ulterior motives for making Chu Aoqing Mu Chen’s personal guard. After all, he had practically watched Chu Aoqing grow up. Although she had been in the Inner Mountain for seven years, she wasn’t much older than Mu Chen. Rather than watch her remain alone, he’d prefer she interacted more with boys. Even though Mu Chen already had romantic partners—more than one, in fact—in Dilaka’s eyes, no one else in the Inner Mountain was worthy of her. At least, that’s what he thought.

"Why should I thank you?" Dilaka rolled his eyes irritably. He couldn’t recall Old Ling doing anything of the sort.

"Forget it. I wasn’t going to tell you anyway. But I reckon you’ll see the results in a few days. Wait..." Master Ling’s expression suddenly froze. He waved a hand and said, "Crap! I have to help this kid resolve the side effects of the Broken Ring, or all his efforts will be for naught!"

As he spoke, without explaining himself to Dilaka and the others, he stomped his foot and instantly appeared in front of Chu Aoqing. He clasped his hands together, held them to the side of his cheek, and looked at Chu Aoqing with the expression of a demure maiden.

Chu Aoqing was startled by the sight. Her lips twitched twice as she asked, "Master Ling... What are you doing?"

"Ah, little Chu Aoqing, this... of course it’s about something important. Um, can you hand that kid Mu Chen over to me for a teensy bit? Just a tiny moment. After I use him—no, after I save him, I’ll give him right back."

"..."

She didn’t speak. Her stunningly beautiful face was covered in imaginary dark lines and nothing else. She hurriedly handed Mu Chen to Master Ling and quickly took two steps back, covered in goosebumps.

The moment Master Ling took Mu Chen, his expression changed completely. He placed a finger on Mu Chen’s Dantian, then suddenly frowned. "Strange. Didn’t this kid use the Broken Ring technique? Why is his Martial Artist Realm still at First-Ring Martial Sect?"

Stunned for a moment, Master Ling carefully investigated further, then exclaimed with delight, "Holy crap, this kid is something else! He actually used the opportunity of the battle to break through to Martial Sect again right after breaking his ring! A prodigy, a true prodigy!"

His shout traveled from above to the ground below, and nearly everyone heard his words. The onlookers exchanged glances, a cold shiver running down their spines. ’Who would ever dare to provoke this guy in the future?’ they thought. ’If they accidentally angered him and he used his Broken Ring technique again... the consequences would be unimaginable!’

"Still, I need to resolve these side effects quickly, or he’ll miss out on the good stuff tonight..." As he spoke, Master Ling very seriously took out a white jade porcelain Medicine Bottle from his storage space. The bottle itself had the color of ancient pottery and was sealed with a red stopper. One look was enough to know it was no ordinary item.

Grasping the Medicine Bottle, he flicked his index finger, sending the stopper flying. A medicinal fragrance instantly wafted out, spreading over a hundred meters. Without a second thought, as if tossing a candy bean, Master Ling took out a pill and threw it into Mu Chen’s mouth. He activated his Primordial Power, helping Mu Chen absorb the elixir in a mere instant.

"A Sixth Grade Elixir?"

Even Chu Aoqing, who had once possessed the most Cultivation Resources in the Inner Mountain, couldn’t help but be astonished by Master Ling’s extravagance. One had to understand that on the Extreme Martial Continent, Cauldron Masters were few and far between, and most of them were not of a high rank. Those capable of refining a Sixth Grade Elixir, needless to say, were almost exclusively gathered in the Ding Palace.

Even at Holy Tomb Mountain, she had only received a single Sixth Grade Elixir for winning the faction tournament. Yet Mu Chen was able to casually consume one just like that. It was truly a matter of fate and fortune!

"Alright, what are you standing so far away for? Here’s Mu Chen back. Also, don’t worry too much about the kid’s side effects. He just needs to sleep for about four hours to recover. Take him back to his dorm."

With a flicker, Master Ling reappeared beside Chu Aoqing. He unceremoniously tossed Mu Chen to her, turned around suavely, and left her with a sentence that made her jaw drop.

"Don’t ask me why, because my name is Red Scarf. Gently I am going, just as gently as I came; I gently wave my sleeve, not taking away a single cloud~"

"..." Choking with speechlessness, Chu Aoqing had no time to deal with the buffoonish Master Ling. Her expression hardened as she slashed her sword, and a Spatial Rift abruptly appeared. She stepped through it, and both she and Mu Chen vanished from everyone’s sight.

Seeing the two disappear, Master Ling’s lips suddenly curled into a lewd grin. ’That little girl is still circulating her Primordial Power,’ he thought. ’The effects will probably kick in before long.’

"Old Di, this farce is over. I need to go back and teach my boy a good lesson. I’ll be taking my leave."

Being around Master Ling was already unpleasant for Shan Qiuhen. More importantly, listening to the students below discuss the winner and loser of the duel, he couldn’t help but lose face.

Watching Shan Qiuhen’s figure disappear, Zhu Jiuqian said to Dilaka, "Perhaps it isn’t my place to say this, but as Mu Chen’s mentor, you should find a chance to talk more with this little guy. I can’t shake the feeling that his background is anything but simple. Also, regarding the matter of Holy Beast Mountain, we should start handling it once those little ones have their Awakening."

Dilaka nodded at his words. "You’re right. Those little ones should have their Awakening tomorrow. I’ll make the trip personally then. Holy Beast Mountain... I wonder what kind of Magical Beast that kid Mu Chen will encounter."

"You don’t need to worry about that. What’s important is that you and that old fool Shan Qiuhen are covering the repair costs for my cafeteria. Otherwise, I’ll be taking a huge loss."

Leaving him with those parting words, Master Ling turned and flew toward the cafeteria. It was the primary scene of the battle, and someone had to clean it up. He had been worried he wouldn’t find anyone to help, but now, seeing so many students gathered below, he was actually quite pleased. After all, he was the only staff member in the entire, massive cafeteria. Of course, that was just for today. But since the battle happened today, the responsibility was naturally his.

"Hey, hey! You bunch of freeloaders who only know how to eat and watch the show! Get your asses in here and clean up these tables and chairs!" Master Ling shouted loudly.

"Why us? Mu Chen and Shan Tianyu made this mess!" a student protested.

"Why? You brat, you dare to ask why?! Itching for a beating?" Master Ling released a sliver of his Saint Realm pressure, and instantly, all the students present deflated.