Chapter 554 - 544: The Fastest Way to Obtain Cultivation Resources

Chapter 554: Chapter 544: The Fastest Way to Obtain Cultivation Resources

"That felt great!"

Taking a deep breath, Mu Chen shot to his feet and leaped out of the Ten-Color Light Shield. The instant he emerged, two chilling gazes locked onto him.

Startled, Mu Chen followed their gazes and froze. His mouth twitched as he muttered, ’Crap... I got so caught up in my cultivation, I completely forgot about them.’

Outside the Ten-Color Lotus, Mu Junwu and Chu Aoqing squinted at Mu Chen, a deceptively sweet smile spreading across their faces. "Junior Brother Mu Chen, just you wait. We promise we won’t beat you to death..."

"Uh..."

BAM!

"Senior Sisters, we can talk about this!"

BAM!

"Senior Sisters, have mercy! I was wrong!"

BAM! BAM! POW! THWACK!

Half an hour later, outside the Ten-Color Lotus, the fragrant aroma of roasting meat wafted from the front of Mu Junwu’s cabin and began to spread.

Chu Aoqing picked up a piece of roasted meat and chewed it gently. Savory juices flooded her taste buds, and as the tender meat slid down her throat, a pleasant warmth spread through her entire body.

"Delicious!"

It took Chu Aoqing a moment to utter that single word, an unusual light shining in her eyes. She had never imagined a man could be so gifted at cooking. The fluttering in her chest intensified, and she cast an unabashedly admiring gaze upon Mu Chen.

"Is it really that good?"

Gazing at the Demon Beast Meat glistening with golden fat over the fire, Mu Junwu was eager to try it. She enveloped her right hand in Primordial Power, and her slender fingers tore off a strip of meat. Her lips parted, the delicate tip of her tongue flicked out, and the meat was drawn into her mouth. A trace of grease was left on her lips, leaving a faint, glistening sheen.

"Delicious!"

Her reaction was identical to Chu Aoqing’s. After that first bite, the way Mu Junwu looked at Mu Chen changed completely. Being older, her judgment of character was sharper than Chu Aoqing’s. A man who was powerful, good-natured, and had an impeccable personality was already immensely charming. That he could also cook such delicious food... even her own heart couldn’t help but stir.

When they looked back at Mu Chen, however, he was gently rubbing his bruised eye and the corner of his mouth. With his other hand, he skillfully turned the Demon Beast Meat over the campfire, occasionally hissing as he sucked in a sharp breath of air.

"Pfft..."

Perhaps finding his focused expression while wincing in pain too endearing, Mu Junwu and Chu Aoqing both burst out laughing. Mu Chen shot them a glare and grumbled, "All you know is how to bully your junior brother. And you hit so hard, too."

Mu Junwu snorted, affecting a cool indifference. "I wonder who it was that promised to cook for us five afternoons ago, only to make us wait five full days. You should be glad we didn’t kill you."

"She’s right," Chu Aoqing chimed in, nodding. "Besides, the time we can get away with bullying you like this is running out. At your current cultivation speed, you’ll probably surpass me in just a year."

Her words rang true for Mu Chen. In just five days, his Martial Artist Realm had advanced from the First-Ring Martial Sect to the Third-Ring Martial Sect. Of course, such speed was unsustainable as his realm continued to rise. With the eighty-fold acceleration of the Eternal Holy Domain, five days of cultivation were equivalent to four hundred days in the Outer Realm. For anyone else, taking four hundred days to advance just one Small Realm was nothing to brag about. (He had broken through to the Second-Ring Martial Sect right as he entered, so that didn’t count as part of the five days.)

In reality, it wouldn’t take Mu Chen anywhere near a year to break through. It was only because this was his first time in the Eternal Holy Domain. The euphoric sensation of absorbing Primordial Power was so intoxicating that he became completely immersed in it, even foolishly attempting to break through his bottleneck while still inside. His Dantian had been filled to capacity within the first two days. And once the Dantian is full, it can’t absorb a single bit more Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi, no matter how dense it is. He had spent the remaining three days battering against the bottleneck to the Second-Ring Martial Sect. Thinking back, attempting a breakthrough inside the Eternal Holy Domain was a colossal waste!

Even now, the thought of those three wasted days made Mu Chen feel a pang of regret. That was equivalent to half a year of cultivation in the Outer Realm. Luckily, he had broken through relatively quickly. If it had taken him several days or even a week after hitting the bottleneck, as was sometimes the case, it would have been a total loss.

At this thought, Mu Chen paused. He realized there was an important question he still needed to ask. He turned to Mu Junwu and Chu Aoqing, who were both calmly contending with the roasted meat in their hands, and smiled. "Aoqing, Sister Jun Wu."

"What did you just call me?!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Mu Junwu’s expression turned icy. Her jade-green eyes fixed on Mu Chen with a chilling glint, startling him so much that his hand trembled, nearly dropping his piece of meat. His mouth twitched, and he stammered, "Jun... Jun Wu."

"That’s better." She took another small bite of meat. "You had a question. Ask it."

Mu Chen stared at Mu Junwu in surprise. ’How did she know I had a question? All I did was call out their names.’ He shook his head. ’Forget it. This woman, Mu Junwu... her raw power might not be terrifying, but she always puts this strange pressure on me. It’s not a suppression of Primordial Power, but of sheer intellect!’

"I want to know how I can quickly acquire more cultivation time resources," Mu Chen said without hesitation.

Mu Junwu swallowed the meat in her mouth and set the rest aside. "Quickly acquire cultivation time resources?" she said calmly. "Well, the fastest way is to fight in the arena, of course. It’s the most simple and brutal method."

"The arena?"

"It’s a place where students settle personal disputes by dueling," Chu Aoqing interjected. "Originally, the duels were just that—duels. But later, the students grew dissatisfied with such a simple format and started adding wagers. It started with pills and Combat Skills, but evolved until the main prize became cultivation time resources. So now, even if there’s no personal grudge, it’s the most crowded place in the academy every day."

"So, the winner takes the stakes wagered by both sides?" Mu Chen asked, then immediately added, "But we’re all students from the same academy. A strong student would be recognized instantly, right? In that case, no one would want to challenge them."

Mu Junwu smiled faintly. "That doesn’t happen. For one thing, the arena has evolved into something of a gamble. And since it’s a gamble, luck is a major factor. When you register, the arena administrators mix your name in with all the other participants and then randomly draw your opponent. If you’re lucky, you might face a first-tier student. If your luck is average, you’ll get a second or third-tier one. If your luck is bad... heh... then there’s no point in even fighting."