Looking at the male figure floating out from within his body, Su Hao immediately dropped to his knees and said, "Master, back then I stripped Su Chen of his Emperor Bone and awakened the Seven-Killing Sword Blood Wheel. Why have I only now broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm?"
He felt deeply frustrated, and even more so, resentful.
His natural talent was already formidable to begin with. Even without fusing with the Emperor Bone, he believed that relying solely on the Seven-Killing Sword Blood Wheel, he would have been able to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm by now.
The Emperor Bone seemed to have become a burden. He had never told anyone about this, not even his father.
The illusory figure smiled and said, "My disciple, do not panic. For ten years, Master has been suppressing your Emperor Bone as well as your cultivation. Do you know why?"
"This disciple does not know."
Master had suppressed it on purpose?
No wonder his cultivation speed had not improved noticeably; it turned out to be Master's doing.
Without a shred of anger, Su Hao knew very well that for Master to do this, he must have had his own reasons.
"Your Emperor Bone was not awakened within your body, but rather forcibly stripped from someone else and integrated into you. Temporary fusion might help you improve rapidly, but as your cultivation grows higher and higher, not only will the Emperor Bone fail to become your foundation, it will instead backfire on you, eventually consuming you entirely."
Ah?
Hearing Master's words, Su Hao was completely dumbfounded, shivering in fright.
If it were really as Master said, just thinking about it made him break out in a cold sweat.
"Master has suppressed the Emperor Bone for a full ten years, and even with Master's power, it required ten years to thoroughly fuse the Emperor Bone with you. This Emperor Bone is too powerful. Now that you have broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm, the Emperor Bone within you has completely integrated. From now on, your cultivation speed will increase tenfold. Within a year, you are bound to reach the peak Nascent Soul Realm, allowing you to charge into the Soul Palace Realm."
His face was filled with surprise and excitement.
"Thank you, Master, for this great grace."
"You are this seat's most outstanding disciple. Regardless of where the Emperor Bone came from, possessing such an Emperor Bone means you will surely become the most powerful existence in this world in the future."
"This disciple will definitely not fail Master's high expectations."
"Begin."
"Yes."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Su Chen, who had lost the Emperor Bone, instead possessed three superimposed Blood Wheels, and had also obtained the Chaotic Swallowing Pagoda, alongside cultivating the Primal Chaos Divine Demon Art and the Ancestral Phoenix Nirvana Art. His opportunities far surpassed Su Hao's.
As for who would win and who would lose in the destined battle between the two of them, it remained unknown.
Three days later.
The ten individuals left the Ten-Beast Pagoda and returned to their dormitories. However, as soon as Su Chen returned to his dorm, someone relayed a message from the academy telling him to hurry to the dean's office immediately—the dean wanted to see him.
Without any hesitation, Su Chen left the dormitory and headed toward the dean's office.
In the deepest part of the academy stood a white building. It looked simple and very low-key, paved with marble on all four sides, bearing quite bizarre patterns.
Arriving at the dean's office, Su Chen knocked on the door.
"Come in."
He pushed the door open and entered.
He saw a middle-aged man sitting behind the desk. The man looked cultured and refined, his resolute face featuring a pair of sword-like brows, and his piercing eyes were currently scanning a book in his hand.
"Student Su Chen pays his respects to the Dean."
Putting down the book, Lan Shang looked at Su Chen and said with great satisfaction, "You really look a lot like your father."
Mentioning his father brought a trace of sorrow to Su Chen's heart. After all, his father was now a living corpse, lying in the family's ice coffin, seemingly dead and unawakened for years.
Seeming to guess the grief in Su Chen's heart, Lan Shang continued, "I don't like people who use connections. Your grandfather has already spoken to me about your situation. Within the academy, you will not receive special treatment; you must strive for everything on your own, understand?"
"Understood."
"Very good. As for the Su Clan and the Tang Clan, I will handle them for you. As long as you are in the academy for a single day, they won't be able to touch a hair on your head."
He had come to East Wasteland Academy precisely to use the academy as a deterrent against the Su Clan, buying himself more time to cultivate. As for the Tang Clan, it seemed that because of Tang Hao, the dean already knew about him crippling Tang Hao's Blood Wheel.
He dared to do it, and he dared to own it.
Even if he had to do it all over again, Su Chen would not regret it and would still act the same way. After all, they had signed a life-and-death pact and fought a life-and-death battle.
"You really know how to cause trouble. As soon as you entered the academy, you crippled Tang Hao's Blood Wheel."
Su Chen remained silent.
Without lingering on the issue, Lan Shang said, "When Su Hao stripped away your Emperor Bone back then, logically speaking, with Su Hao's talent, he should have already reached the Soul Palace Realm by now. Yet according to the intelligence I received, Su Hao has only just broken through to the Advanced Solid Pill Realm."
Level 7 Solid Pill Realm to Level 9 Solid Pill Realm are collectively referred to as the Advanced Solid Pill Realm.
Even Lan Shang felt this matter was rather fishy; after all, fusing with an Emperor Bone could not possibly yield zero benefits for cultivation.
Su Chen was also suspicious. When he re-encountered Su Hao in the Heavenly Punishment Forest, he had already sensed that Su Hao's cultivation speed wasn't as fast as one might have imagined.
Although East Wasteland Academy gathered all the geniuses from the entire East Wasteland, Su Hao's innate talent wasn't poor to begin with, and combined with his fusion of Su Chen's Emperor Bone, he should have been peerless among his generation.
And yet?
"I will help you investigate this matter, but you must understand that since Su Hao has fused with the Emperor Bone, things are definitely not that simple. If you want revenge, what you need to do is focus on your cultivation with peace of mind instead of stirring up trouble, understand?"
"Understood."
"You may go."
"Yes."
Just as Su Chen turned to leave, the dean's voice sounded once more.
"My name is Lan Shang. Your father saved my life back then. If you encounter any insoluble problems, come straight here to find me."
Nodding, Su Chen pushed the door open and walked out.
Watching the disappearing figure, Lan Shang let out a deep sigh. He had been so strict precisely because he wanted to spur Su Chen on to cultivate properly without a moment of slack.
A Su Hao who had fused with the Emperor Bone, a Tang Hao whose Blood Wheel had been crippled—whether it was the Su Clan or the Tang Clan, both were top-tier clans in the East Wasteland. Even if East Wasteland Academy could deter the two clans, the moment Su Chen left the academy, he believed both clans would inevitably make their move.
Could he really protect Su Chen forever?
Let alone himself, no matter who it was, it was impossible to protect someone forever.
Su Chen still had to rely on himself, rather than anyone else.
"I hope you are even more outstanding than your father. To lose the Emperor Bone, sigh!"
"Possessing the Emperor Bone guarantees the Emperor Realm, what a pity."
Looking across the entire East Wasteland for over a thousand years, it seemed no one had ever been heard of awakening an Emperor Bone. Su Chen was the first, yet because of the Su Clan's weakness, Su Chen failed to fuse with the Emperor Bone in time, allowing Su Hao to pick up a bargain and strip it away to fuse with it himself.
"Such is fate."
Outside the office.
Having seemingly overheard the dean's words, Su Chen clenched his fists tightly, his eyes resolute as he muttered, "My fate is mine to control! If fate is unfair, I shall defy the heavens and change my destiny! Whoever dares to stop me, I will slaughter! Even if it is the heavens, I will surely walk upon them."
Su Hao, just wait. I, Su Chen, will eventually go to the Su Clan to find you, and settle the score for the theft of my Emperor Bone and the crippling of my blood and bone back then.
***
The Artifact Pavilion.
The place where all the academy's treasures were stored; students could exchange for them freely as long as they had enough contribution points.
Su Chen still had thirty thousand contribution points in his hand. Naturally, he wanted to head to the Artifact Pavilion and the Martial Arts Pavilion to see if there was anything he needed.
The pure white building had two stories in total.
Students of the elementary, intermediate, and advanced classes could only exchange for items and martial arts on the first floor of the Artifact Pavilion. To step onto the second floor, one needed to be a student of the Ace Class.
Arriving in front of the Artifact Pavilion.
He took out his identity jade token to register, and Su Chen walked inside.
*So huge.*
The entire first floor of the Artifact Pavilion was immense, roughly the size of a football field. Clusters of ice-blue water light were neatly arranged in rows, too numerous to count.
In front of each ice-blue light cluster was a description of the treasure, along with the required contribution points for exchange.
He had originally thought that having thirty thousand contribution points meant he could exchange for a lot of things, but now it seemed he couldn't even exchange for a fart.
"Langya Sword, requires 23,400 contribution points to exchange."
Looking at the description of the Langya Sword, Su Chen understood that it was indeed worth it. If placed in the outside world, it would probably be a rare treasure impossible to price.
Gold coins? They were completely useless for purchasing it.
*Heavenly Bone Sword, requires 48,888 contribution points to exchange.*
*Flying spirit artifact, requires 190,000 contribution points to exchange.*
Gazing at the four words "flying spirit artifact," a hint of greed welled up in Su Chen's eyes. He knew very well what a flying spirit artifact meant among spirit artifacts.
He believed anyone would find the temptation of a flying spirit artifact irresistible, but wanting to exchange for one required 190,000 contribution points—far too exorbitant. Looking at the thirty-odd thousand points displayed on his identity jade token, he couldn't even exchange for one-sixth of a flying spirit artifact.
He felt quite depressed.
He could only look at it, unable to make it his own.
*Tiangang Hammer, 120,000 contribution points to exchange.*
*Yunxiao Boots, 177,899 contribution points to exchange.*
He stopped reading further because Su Chen had already realized one thing: wanting to exchange for the spirit artifacts and treasures within the Artifact Pavilion using the thirty-odd thousand points in his hand was entirely a joke.
Any spirit artifact he managed to successfully exchange for within thirty thousand points probably wasn't any good anyway.
Just as Su Chen was about to leave, the Primal Chaos Divine Demon Art within his body suddenly began to run on its own. Su Chen whipped around, staring at the first floor of the Artifact Pavilion before him. To be able to trigger the Primal Chaos Divine Demon Art meant this treasure was definitely extraordinary.
Following the guidance of the divine and demonic aura in his body, Su Chen walked toward the locked-on direction.
An inconspicuous light cluster on the left was covered in dust, looking as though no one had paid it any mind for an unknown length of time.
"Flawed treasure, requires only 10,000 contribution points."
No wonder nobody cared about it. The mere four words "flawed treasure" were enough to scare away all potential buyers; after all, 10,000 contribution points was no small sum, and no one was willing to lose them for nothing.
Without the slightest hesitation, he placed his identity jade token in front of the light cluster.
In an instant, the 10,000 contribution points on his identity jade token were deducted, leaving a little over twenty thousand points remaining.
The light cluster vanished, and a mirror appeared in Su Chen's hand, broken on both sides. Now he finally understood why this treasure was flawed.
The characters "Divine Demon" were engraved on the handle. Su Chen already knew the name of this treasure; barring any accidents, it should be the so-called Divine Demon Mirror.
"Pagoda Spirit, can this treasure be repaired?"
This was what Su Chen wanted to know most, because the Divine Demon Mirror was a flawed treasure. If it couldn't be repaired, his 10,000 contribution points would have been wasted for nothing.
He had no idea whether he could repair it himself, so he could only ask the Pagoda Spirit.
Immediately, the Pagoda Spirit's voice sounded in his mind.
"To repair the Divine Demon Mirror, the master can only use his soul to nurture it. However, the master must remember: nurturing the Divine Demon Mirror with your soul establishes a special connection with it. Once the Divine Demon Mirror shatters, the master's soul will shatter along with it. Furthermore, nurturing the Divine Demon Mirror with your soul consumes a massive amount of soul energy and takes a very long time."
Listening to the Pagoda Spirit's explanation, Su Chen couldn't help but gasp in shock.
The meaning was simple: if he wanted to repair the Divine Demon Mirror, the only way was soul nurturing. And soul nurturing carried huge risks—if the Divine Demon Mirror shattered, his soul would shatter too, and it would take a very long time to nurture.
Staring fixedly at the Divine Demon Mirror in his hand, Su Chen ultimately chose soul nurturing and asked the Pagoda Spirit how to go about it.
It turned out he had to constantly feed the Divine Demon Mirror with his soul. This would inevitably affect his martial cultivation to some extent, as soul strength was extremely crucial for martial arts advancement.
After weighing the pros and cons, Su Chen ultimately decided to use his soul to nurture the Divine Demon Mirror.
"You must be Su Chen from the elementary class, number one on the Hidden Dragon Ranking."
Hearing someone speak from behind, the Divine Demon Mirror in Su Chen's hand instantly vanished. He turned around to face Shen Bingyue—this woman, whom he had nearly killed, actually dared to come looking for him again.
Su Chen remained silent, his face showing unmasked disgust and mockery.
The more he acted like this, the angrier Shen Bingyue became. She said coldly, "My elder sister, Shen Bingxue, wants to see you."
Shen Bingxue, Shen Bingyue's elder sister, came from the Ace Class 2, a Level 5 Golden Core Realm cultivator with the Ice and Snow Blood Wheel.
Whether she was willing to accept it or not, Shen Bingyue knew very well that with her strength, she was definitely no match for Su Chen. A student who had just entered the academy managed to seize first place on the Hidden Dragon Ranking during the Hidden Dragon tournament—that alone spoke volumes.
She had no choice but to seek help from her elder sister. Although doing so was inglorious and would be laughed at by others, Shen Bingyue could no longer care about that.
If she didn't save face, she would surely become the laughingstock of the academy.
Su Chen simply chose to ignore her.
Let him go see Shen Bingxue?
He was ignoring her?
An enraged Shen Bingyue snapped, "Su Chen, don't you dare be so arrogant! My sister comes from the Ace Class 2!"
So what if she was from the Ace Class? Su Chen couldn't be bothered to talk much. He suddenly remembered that he needed a spatial ring with a larger capacity; the spatial ring on his finger had far too little space and would soon fall short of his needs.
"Little sister, don't be rash."
At that moment, a woman walked in. She looked about sixty or seventy percent similar to Shen Bingyue, but her aura was even colder. Dressed in snow-white attire, her figure was accentuated to perfection.
"Shen Bingxue from the Ace Class."
Seeing Shen Bingxue, the eyes of many male students immediately lit up. After all, Shen Bingxue was even prettier than Shen Bingyue. Even across the entire academy, she was a renowned beauty with a massive following of suitors.
Walking to Shen Bingyue's side and looking at the wildly arrogant young man before her, Shen Bingxue said coldly, "Bullying a woman by relying on a few dirty tricks—junior sure knows how to bring honor to men. Senior sister is deeply impressed, which is why I specially took the time today to see what kind of extraordinary figure junior really is."
Insulting someone without using vulgarities—quite venomous!
Shen Bingyue's gaze was bone-chillingly cold as she stared fixedly at the young man. If looks could kill, Su Chen would have already been murdered countless times over.