Chapter 10

"I heard it." "Then why make a move?" Although no one had died, according to the academy's rules, students generally did not act with such ruthless severity toward one another. Ever since the Hidden Dragon Tournament began three full days ago, this was the first time such an incident had occurred. "This was a life-and-death duel agreed upon by mutual pact. Why should I have stopped?" A life-and-death duel? Teng Long looked at Xing Yingxue. Seeing her nod, he finally understood why this student had dared to be so arrogant and completely ignore his commands. Since a life-and-death pact had been signed, Tang Hao managing to keep his life was something to thank the heavens for. After all, once a life-and-death pact was signed, not even the dean would intervene. "What is your name? Which class are you from?" "Su Chen, from Class Twenty-two." Teng Long was inwardly astonished. When had the lowest-tier primary class ever produced such a monstrous talent, capable of defeating even Tang Hao, the primary class's top prodigy? Without further nonsense, Teng Li scooped up the unconscious Tang Hao and vanished from the two of them like a hunting cheetah. Xing Yingxue stared blankly at the young man, still in a daze. She truly had not expected Junior Su's strength to be so overbearing that he could brutally injure Tang Hao. "Are you injured?" "I'm fine." Helping Xing Yingxue sit on the ground, Su Chen said, "You should have left with Instructor Teng Long just now." Su Chen was well aware that students like Xing Yingxue who entered the Hidden Dragon Tournament were merely making up the numbers to gain experience. Dreaming of making it onto the Hidden Dragon Ranking was sheer wishful thinking. Leave aside Xing Yingxue; even Tang Hao could only serve as a sparring partner. The Hidden Dragon Ranking was strictly a battleground for the intermediate classes, having little to do with the primary class. Xing Yingxue said with a helpless sigh, "Junior Su, it's my fault you're implicated this time. The Tang Clan wields immense influence in the Eastern Wasteland. Even with the Eastern Wasteland Academy as a deterrent, once you leave the academy, I'm afraid..." She left the rest unsaid, but her meaning was clear enough for anyone to understand. Su Chen, however, remained completely unbothered. One Su Clan, plus another Tang Clan—it all amounted to the same thing. "You're from the Xing Clan?" Su Chen had heard everything from their earlier conversation. He was not entirely unfamiliar with the Xing Clan; after all, like the Tang and Su Clans, the Xing Clan was a top-tier power in the Eastern Wasteland, renowned across the region for its Golden Sparrow Blood Wheel. Nodding, Xing Yingxue said with deep sorrow, "I am indeed from the Xing Clan, but I am someone they cast aside. As you likely heard just now, while our clan is famous for the Golden Sparrow Blood Wheel, what I awakened was a Partridge Blood Wheel. I am the disgrace of the Xing Clan." A Golden Sparrow Blood Wheel? A Partridge Blood Wheel? Su Chen understood Xing Yingxue's feelings. After all, in this world where martial prowess reigned supreme, strength represented everything, and even family ties were fragile enough to shatter at a touch. He was living proof of that. Under the intimidation of the Su Clan, his cousins and eldest uncle had sought to put him to death, and even his grandfather, who had once doted on him, had banished him from the clan. To a martial artist, the Blood Wheel was the foundation of existence; to a top-tier power, it was a matter of face. As one of the Eastern Wasteland's premier factions, boasting the coveted Golden Sparrow Blood Wheel, the proud Xing Clan could never accept the sudden appearance of a Partridge Blood Wheel. Moreover, Su Chen could easily guess that Xing Yingxue's status within the clan was far from ordinary. "Junior Su, may I ask a favor of you?" "Go ahead." "I'd like to follow you for a few days of experience." Level 2 Foundation Establishment Realm—such cultivation was indeed far too low within the Eastern Wasteland Academy. Otherwise, she wouldn't have hit rock bottom and ended up relegated to the worst primary class. For Su Chen, it made no difference. What he needed to do right now was hunt for spiritual herbs on the one hand, and fight for points to climb onto the Hidden Dragon Ranking on the other. The Hundred Battles Ranking was undoubtedly out of reach, but as for the Hidden Dragon Ranking, while the others in the primary class couldn't pull it off, he was determined to secure a spot. "Very well." Hearing this, Xing Yingxue poured out her heartfelt thanks. "Let's rest for two hours first. We'll leave once your injuries have healed." "Alright." Xing Yingxue's injuries were not severe; she had merely been caught in the shockwaves of the life-and-death duel between the two men. Two hours of recovery should be more than enough. Watching the young man sitting cross-legged not far away and beginning to cultivate, Xing Yingxue's face flushed involuntarily. Two hours later. Xing Yingxue's injuries had mostly healed, and without further delay, the two chose to leave. The reason Su Chen had chosen to help Xing Yingxue went beyond the fact that they belonged to the same class; he also felt a degree of sympathy for her. They were companions in misery, both cast aside by their respective families. Roar! A terrifying roar tore through the void as hundreds of armored rhinoceroses surrounded the two in a tight circle, their cold gazes locked onto the prey before them. Releasing his Blood Wheel, Su Chen gripped a phantom sword projection in his hand, shielding Xing Yingxue behind him. Unleashing the Nine Tribulations Sword Art, sharp and domineering sword qi surged outward, sweeping across the surroundings. Facing the coordinated onslaught of hundreds of armored rhinoceroses, not only did Su Chen show no fear, but he also appeared rather exhilarated, slaughtering and devouring all at once. As long as he absorbed enough power, combined with the overlay of the Chaotic Devouring Art and the Chaotic Body, he believed he would soon break through his own bottleneck and smoothly advance to the Level 9 Foundation Establishment Realm. Dozens of minutes later. Su Chen and Xing Yingxue sat cross-legged simultaneously. "Clear your mind, anchor your origin, and do not resist my influx of power. You only need to absorb it." Su Chen's intent was simple: he would use his own body as a medium to absorb the power of the armored rhinoceroses, refine it through the Chaotic Devouring Art, and then channel it into Xing Yingxue's body. Doing so would prevent any backlash. She felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Even her own family had chosen to abandon her, and the academy had relegated her to the worst primary class. Yet now, Su Chen was willing to help her. She gazed at him with a hazy, mesmerized look. Su Chen's figure grew increasingly grand in Xing Yingxue's heart. "Stop letting your mind wander and focus on your cultivation." Being tightly grasped by Su Chen's hand made Xing Yingxue's heart flutter with distracted thoughts, and she repeatedly told herself not let her imagination run wild at a time like this. A Blood Wheel gradually condensed above her head, within which hovered the phantom of a small bird—the Partridge Blood Wheel that Xing Yingxue had awakened. With Su Chen's full support, Xing Yingxue's cultivation successfully broke through to the Level 3 Foundation Establishment Realm. "Hmm?" "Junior Su, what is it?" Clasping Xing Yingxue's hand tighter, Su Chen looked up at the Blood Wheel above her head and said in surprise, "There is something fishy about your Blood Wheel. If you trust me, let me help you." "Please go ahead, Junior Su." Of course she trusted him. At this point, Xing Yingxue wouldn't even trust anyone in her own family, yet she placed her full trust in the young man before her. His internal Chaotic Body manifested, and the sword Blood Wheel condensing above his head completely overrode the gloomy devouring Blood Wheel as Su Chen began operating the Chaotic Devouring Art. Waves of devouring energy continuously poured into Xing Yingxue's body, enveloping her Blood Wheel. A sheen of cold sweat broke out across her painful face as Xing Yingxue gritted her teeth and held on. Rays of devouring power relentlessly nibbled away at her Partridge Blood Wheel. If she hadn't chosen to trust Su Chen, she truly would have thought he was trying to harm her. "Senior Sister Xing, hold on." "Mm." The pain grew increasingly intense. Her entire body felt as though it were being devoured by ten thousand ants chewing away at her flesh, blood, and bones, driving her to the brink of agony. Half an hour later. Just as Xing Yingxue was about to reach her breaking point, the Partridge Blood Wheel condensing above her head suddenly shattered, and a brand-new phantom burst forth from the fragments. A pure white lark covered in countless black markings, its cold eyes brimming with intensely fierce radiance, threw back its head and let out a long cry. "A mutated Blood Wheel—Heaven-Shrouding Lark." Su Chen knew very well what a mutated Blood Wheel signified. The sword Blood Wheel he had recondensed was also a mutated Blood Wheel; such Blood Wheels were exceptionally unique and immensely powerful. Earlier, when he was helping Xing Yingxue cultivate, he had sensed that her Blood Wheel was somewhat unusual, as if something were sealed within the Partridge Blood Wheel. Now it appeared that the mutated Blood Wheel simply hadn't truly awakened yet, and his intervention had merely sparked that awakening. He had originally planned to devour the power of hundreds of armored rhinoceroses to break through to the Level 9 Foundation Establishment Realm. However. Seeing that Xing Yingxue had awakened a mutated Blood Wheel, she urgently needed an influx of energy to reap the maximum benefit. Su Chen was not a stingy person; he immediately chose to abandon his own devouring process and poured all his effort into helping Xing Yingxue absorb that surge of power. Streams of refined energy were continuously funneled into Xing Yingxue's body. An hour later. The pain throughout her body vanished in an instant, her previous injuries were completely healed, and the Heaven-Shrouding Lark Blood Wheel hovering above her head radiated formidable strength. Slowly opening her eyes and sensing the surging power within her—which had soared by a full three tiers—she could barely contain her excitement. With Su Chen's assistance, she had leaped up by four tiers in total, vaulting straight from the Level 2 Foundation Establishment Realm to the Level 6 Foundation Establishment Realm. "Thank you, Junior Su." "Think nothing of it."Su Chen was also happy for Xing Yingxue. Because of her trash Blood Wheel, Xing Yingxue had never been treated well by the Xing Clan. Now that she had reawakened and evolved her Blood Wheel into the top-tier Veiling Cloud Lark, he believed her status within the Xing Clan would undergo a heaven-revamping transformation.

What was more, the rank of the Veiling Cloud Lark Blood Wheel surpassed even that of the Golden Lark.

Feeling that her hand was still held in Su Chen's grip, Xing Yingxue's face flushed red once more, looking just like a ripe red apple.

"Xing Yingxue? You really are shameless enough to be carrying on here in secret, making a mockery of Senior Tang Hao's devotion to you. Have you no shame at all?"

The students of the East Wasteland Forest did not yet know that Tang Hao's Blood Wheel had been crippled.

A man and a woman walked over. Seeing the young man and Xing Yingxue holding hands, they immediately stepped forward to champion justice. After all, everyone in the elementary classes knew that Tang Hao from Class 1 had been relentlessly pursuing Xing Yingxue, only to be repeatedly rejected by her.

"Mo Lin, stop talking rubbish."

Mo Lin and Mu Shuangshuang were both from Class 1 and could be considered Tang Hao's lackeys. After all, given Tang Hao's status, they could not stay in East Wasteland Academy forever; once they left the academy, they would need Tang Hao's support.

If they could join the Su Clan, it would be immensely beneficial to their growth and development.

"Rubbish? Am I talking rubbish? Look at the two of you. If we had arrived any later, would you two have started going at it out here in the wild? How could Big Brother Tang Hao ever like a bitch like you?"

Mu Shuangshuang also said with a face full of disgust, "It's utterly sickening. Xing Yingxue, today we are going to teach you a lesson on behalf of Senior Tang Hao, so you know what price must be paid for betraying him."

A calm expression showed not the slightest trace of anger. Pulling Xing Yingxue to her feet, Su Chen smiled and said, "There's no need for you to be angry. Just treat them like dogs. If a dog bites you, surely you aren't going to bite it back."

Pfft!

Xing Yingxue never expected Junior Su to say something like that, and she couldn't help letting out a laugh.

"Impudent!"

Mo Lin and Mu Shuangshuang were both filled with fury. Coming from Class 1 and sitting at the peak of Level 8 Foundation Establishment Realm, they believed that apart from the students of Class 1, no one else across all the elementary classes could be their match.

To dare humiliate them so arrogantly was a direct provocation.

"Today I'll teach you both a lesson on behalf of Senior Tang Hao."

"What a fine pair of lackeys."

"You're courting death."

Taking a step forward, Mo Lin viciously lashed out with a strike toward Su Chen. His tyrannical palm print carried a bone-chilling killing intent; he wanted to show the other party what kind of end awaited those who dared provoke him.

However.

Without releasing his Blood Wheel, Su Chen began forming hand seals, executing the Divine Demon Death Seal.

He had already successfully derived the first Divine Demon Death Seal. Since this was his first time using it, he was eager to see what kind of terrifying might was contained within this death seal comprehended from the Primordial Divine Demon Scripture.

A wave of deathly aura instantly coalesced, condensing into a seal within his hands. The moment Mo Lin closed to within a meter of him, Su Chen unleashed it directly.

Both were at Level 8 Foundation Establishment Realm. The moment they collided, Mo Lin suddenly felt a tyrannical seal shatter his offensive momentum. It poured in like a tsunami overwhelming a small stream, and before he even had a chance to release his Blood Wheel, he was struck square by the seal.

A mouthful of blood spewed from his mouth as his body was violently sent flying through the air, crashing heavily into a large tree.

The tree snapped with a loud crack, and Mo Lin's clothes were dyed crimson with blood. If not for the academy's strict rules forbidding murder, Mo Lin would already be a dead man.

"You dare!"

Slap!

Mu Shuangshuang was completely dumbfounded. She only saw a blur of afterimages flash before her, and before she could even react, Su Chen was already striking her left and right, landing slap after slap without a shred of mercy, unleashing a hundred slaps in an instant.

Mu Shuangshuang's once delicate face was directly beaten into the shape of a pig's head, seeing stars all around, before she was kicked flying through the air to land beside Mo Lin.

Xing Yingxue felt not the slightest bit of surprise, because in her eyes, since Junior Su could even defeat Tang Hao, defeating these other students was a given.

Approaching the pair, Su Chen sneered coldly.

"What do you want? This is the East Wasteland Forest, and the academy has explicit rules prohibiting any deaths."

In the face of life and death, so-called dignity was completely worthless.

They were terrified that this lunatic would go crazy and kill them both.

"Points."

Even though they were ten thousand times unwilling, under the intimidation of absolute strength, they could only take out their identity jade tokens with extreme reluctance and transfer their points to Su Chen.

"Pathetic."

Dropping those two words, Su Chen quickly left with Xing Yingxue.

Following the location given to him by Ye Fei and making a frantic dash for several hours, he finally arrived before a gigantic peak.

Soaring trees surrounded the giant peak on all sides, forming an encircling embrace.

"This is it."

"Senior Sister Xing, you'd better stay here and wait for me."

Su Chen knew very well that powerful ferocious beasts must be guarding the interior of the giant peak before them, and seizing the spiritual herbs would certainly not be an easy task.

Although Xing Yingxue had already awakened her mutated Blood Wheel, she herself was only at Level 6 Foundation Establishment Realm. If they encountered a powerful ferocious beast, he would not be able to spare the attention to protect her.

Xing Yingxue desperately wanted to go in with Su Chen, but she also understood what Junior Su meant. If she continued to follow him and they encountered danger, not only would she be unable to help him, but she would even become dead weight.

"Junior Su, be careful."

"Don't worry."

Without lingering any longer, Su Chen rapidly advanced toward the towering peak before him.

The purple fox's injuries had stabilized slightly, but to fully stabilize them, they needed to find suitable spiritual herbs as quickly as possible.

Inside the giant peak.

Fierce winds howled and dust swirled. Could spiritual herbs possibly grow in a place like this?

Condensing a sword shield around his body, Su Chen pressed forward. After a short while, a completely different scene came into view: a lush, verdant forest brimming with immense spiritual energy.

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

Following the source of the chaotic commotion, he discovered two young men working together to besiege a blood-red tiger.

"A Virtual Pill Realm beast, Blood Demonic Tiger."

Su Chen could sense that both students were at Level 9 Virtual Pill Realm, yet even working together, subduing this Blood Demonic Tiger was no easy task.

It seemed the Blood Demonic Tiger was at least at Level 9 Virtual Pill Realm, perhaps even the Peak Virtual Pill Realm. Although the two men appeared to have the upper hand, until the very end, who would win and who would lose remained a true unknown.

Not far from the battle between man and beast lay a patch of blood-red ganoderma, its vines coiled like divine dragons, looking extremely bizarre.

"Coiled Blood Ganoderma."

Su Chen's eyes instantly lit up with a green glow, staring greedily at the Coiled Blood Ganoderma. Back in the Su Clan, the Martial Pavilion housed books specifically introducing various spirit beasts and spiritual herbs, which could also be purchased in the marketplace.

Among them was an introduction to the Coiled Blood Ganoderma, noting its absolute miraculous efficacy for the soul. Furthermore, the Coiled Blood Ganoderma could be used as an ingredient in alchemy to refine Coiled Blood Pills.

Without the slightest hesitation, he threw all other concerns to the wind. He had risked coming here specifically to search for spiritual herbs, and now that he saw them, unless he was a complete idiot, how could he not make a move?

"Brat, you dare!"

"Brat, don't you dare touch the Coiled Blood Ganoderma!"

Xiao Ming and Shi Chen were pinned down and desperately entangled by the Blood Demonic Tiger. Moreover, because the Blood Demonic Tiger belonged to the Peak Virtual Pill Realm and was already injured, they had only dared to come out and suppress it together.

If they gave up their attack, they would inevitably be counter-killed by the Blood Demonic Tiger, turning a clever scheme into a total loss where they didn't even get to keep the bait.

Yet they never expected that someone would play the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. How could they not be furious?

Choosing to ignore them entirely, Su Chen instantly arrived before the patch of Coiled Blood Ganoderma. Seeing the clumps of ganoderma—numbering over a hundred stalks in total—the greed in his eyes grew even more intense.

This was hitting the jackpot.

Without the slightest bit of politeness, he immediately began harvesting them. Stalk after stalk of Coiled Blood Ganoderma was continuously gathered and tossed into his spatial ring.

In just a brief two minutes, all of the Coiled Blood Ganoderma had been swept clean, leaving not a single stalk behind.

"Brat, you're courting death!"

Xiao Ming roared in fury. The two of them came from Intermediate Class 1 and were both at Level 9 Virtual Pill Realm. Having managed to suppress the Blood Demonic Tiger with great difficulty, once they secured the hundreds of Coiled Blood Ganoderma stalks, they could return to the academy to exchange them for even more points, and thereby trade for whatever items they desired.

And now?

The mantis stalked the cicada, but the oriole was right behind! Most importantly, this oriole was merely at the Foundation Establishment Realm—he was undoubtedly a student from the elementary classes.

An elementary class student daring to step forward and snatch the spoils of intermediate class students?

This was truly the first time they had ever heard of such a thing. If word of this spread back to the academy, it would undoubtedly become a laughingstock.

Furious, Xiao Ming and Shi Chen stepped up their frantic assault. Although the Blood Demonic Tiger was injured, even so, fighting two opponents alone, it was still able to stubbornly hold its ground against their joint onslaught.

"Not a bad place."

Su Chen discovered that the ground where the Coiled Blood Ganoderma grew contained immense spiritual energy; it was indeed an excellent spot for cultivation.