Looking at the male figure floating out from within his body, Su Hao immediately dropped to his knees on both sides and said, "Master, your disciple stripped Su Chen of his Emperor Bone back then, and the Blood Wheel I awakened was none other than the Seven-Killing Sword. Why is it that I am only breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm now?"
He felt deeply frustrated, and even more resentful.
His innate talent was exceptionally high to begin with. He believed that even without merging with the Emperor Bone, 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, as your master, I have been suppressing your Emperor Bone along with your cultivation. Do you know why?"
"This disciple does not know."
His master had suppressed it on purpose?
No wonder his cultivation speed had not shown any obvious improvement. It turned out to be his master's doing.
Without a shred of anger, Su Hao knew very well that his master must have had his own reasons for doing this.
"Your Emperor Bone did not awaken naturally within your body; rather, you forcibly stripped it from another and fused it into yourself. Such a temporary fusion might help you advance rapidly for a time, but as your cultivation grows higher and higher, not only will the Emperor Bone fail to become your foundation, it will instead backlash against you until it devours you completely."
Ah?
Hearing his master's words, Su Hao was completely stunned, his body trembling with fright.
If things were truly as his master said, the mere thought of it sent chills down his spine.
"As your master, I have suppressed the Emperor Bone for a full ten years. Even with my power, it has taken a full ten years for the Emperor Bone to completely fuse with you. This Emperor Bone is simply too powerful. Now that you have broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm, the Emperor Bone within your body is fully integrated. From this moment on, your cultivation speed will increase tenfold. Within a year, you are bound to reach the Peak Nascent Soul Realm and thereby make a bid for the Soul Palace Realm."
His face was filled with pleasant surprise and excitement.
"Many thanks, Master, for your grace and favor."
"You are this seat's most outstanding disciple. Regardless of where the Emperor Bone came from, possessing such an Emperor Bone means you are destined to become the most powerful existence in this world in the future."
"This disciple will definitely not fail Master's high expectations."
"Begin."
"Yes."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Having lost the Emperor Bone, Su Chen instead possessed three overlapping Blood Wheels, obtained the Chaotic Swallowing Pagoda, and cultivated both the Primordial Gods and Demons Art and the Ancestral Phoenix Nirvana Art. His opportunities far surpassed those of Su Hao.
Who would emerge victorious in the destined battle between the two of them remained to be seen.
Three days later.
The ten individuals left the Ten-Thousand Beasts Pagoda and returned to their dormitories. However, no sooner had Su Chen returned to his quarters than someone delivered a message from the academy telling him to rush to the headmaster's office immediately; the headmaster wanted to see him.
Without wasting a single moment, Su Chen left his dormitory and headed toward the headmaster's office.
In the deepest part of the academy stood a white building. It looked simple and unassuming, keeping a very low profile, paved on all four sides with marble etched in bizarre patterns.
Arriving at the headmaster's office, Su Chen knocked on the door.
"Enter."
He pushed the door open and walked in.
He saw a middle-aged man sitting behind the desk—refined and scholarly, with two sword-like brows on a resolute face, and sharp, piercing eyes currently scanning a book in his hands.
"Student Su Chen pays respects to the Headmaster."
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 stirred a sense of sorrow in Su Chen's heart. After all, his father was now a living corpse, lying inside the clan's ice coffin like a dead man who never woke up year after year.
Seeming to guess the sorrow in Su Chen's heart, Lan Shang continued, "I do not like people who take shortcuts. Your grandfather has already spoken to me about your affairs. Within the academy, you will not receive any special treatment; everything must be striven for by your own hands. Do you understand?"
"Understood."
"Very well. As for the Su clan and the Tang clan, I will help you handle them. As long as you remain in the academy for a single day, they will not be able to harm you in the slightest."
Coming to the East Wasteland Academy was precisely to use the academy as a deterrent against the Su clan and buy himself more time to cultivate. As for the Tang clan, it seemed that because of Tang Hao, the headmaster already knew about him crippling Tang Hao's Blood Wheel.
If he dared to do it, 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 exact same way. After all, they had signed a pact of life and death and fought a life-and-death battle.
"You really know how to stir up trouble. No sooner have you entered the academy than you cripple 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, given his 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 Core Realm."
Level 7 Solid Core Realm through Level 9 Solid Core Realm were collectively referred to as the Advanced Solid Core Realm.
Even Lan Shang found this matter rather fishy. After all, fusing with an Emperor Bone could not possibly yield zero benefits to one's cultivation.
Su Chen was also suspicious. When he encountered Su Hao again in the Heavenly Punishment Forest, he had already sensed that Su Hao's cultivation speed was not as terrifying as one might have imagined.
Although the East Wasteland Academy gathered all the geniuses of the entire East Wasteland, Su Hao's innate talent was already formidable, and on top of that, he had fused with his—Su Chen's—Emperor Bone, so he should have towered above his peers.
And yet?
"I will help you investigate this matter. However, you must understand that since Su Hao has already 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 rather than stirring up trouble. Understand?"
"Understood."
"You may go."
"Yes."
Just as Su Chen turned to leave, the headmaster's voice sounded once again.
"My name is Lan Shang. Your father saved my life back then. If you encounter any insoluble matters, come directly here to find me."
Nodding, Su Chen did not open the door immediately; instead, he stepped outside.
Watching the retreating figure vanish, Lan Shang let out a deep sigh. He had been so strict precisely to spur Su Chen on to cultivate diligently without a single moment of slack.
A Su Hao who had fused with the Emperor Bone, and 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 the East Wasteland Academy could deter the two clans, the moment Su Chen stepped outside the academy, he believed the two clans would undoubtedly make their move.
Could he possibly protect Su Chen forever?
Let alone himself, no matter who it was, it was impossible to protect someone for a lifetime.
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!"
"To possess the Emperor Bone is to be guaranteed 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 very first, yet because of the Su family's weakness, he was unable to fully integrate the Emperor Bone in time, allowing Su Hao to scavenge the bargain and strip it away for his own fusion.
"Such is fate."
Outside the office.
Having seemingly overheard the headmaster's words, Su Chen clenched his fists tightly, his eyes resolute as he said, "My fate is mine to grasp. If fate is unjust, I shall defy the heavens and alter my fate. Whoever dares to block me, I will slaughter them. Even if it be the heavens themselves, I will surely walk upon them."
Su Hao, just you wait. I, Su Chen, will eventually go to the Su clan to find you and settle the debt of having my Emperor Bone seized and my blood and bones crippled back then.
***
The Artifact Pavilion.
The repository for all the academy's treasures, where students could exchange for items freely—provided they had enough contribution points.
Su Chen still had thirty thousand contribution points in his possession. 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 consisted of two floors.
Students of the elementary, intermediate, and advanced classes could only redeem items and martial arts techniques on the first floor of the Artifact Pavilion. To step onto the second floor, one needed to be an elite class student.
Arriving in front of the Artifact Pavilion, Su Chen produced his identity jade token to register before walking inside.
*So big.*
The entire first floor of the Artifact Pavilion was immense, easily the size of a football field. Orbs of ice-blue water light were neatly arranged in rows, too numerous to count.
In front of each ice-blue light orb was an introduction to the treasure, along with the required contribution points for exchange.
He had originally thought that possessing thirty thousand contribution points meant he could exchange for a great many things, but now it seemed he couldn't even redeem a fart.
"Langya Sword, requires 23,400 contribution points to exchange."
Reading the introduction for the Langya Sword, Su Chen understood that it was indeed worth it. If placed in the outside world, it would likely be a priceless treasure that money couldn't buy.
Gold coins? They were completely useless for purchasing these.
*Heavenly Bone Sword, requires 48,888 contribution points to exchange.*
*Flight spirit artifact, requires 190,000 contribution points to exchange.*
Glancing at the four characters "flight spirit artifact," a greedy glint flickered in Su Chen's eyes. He knew very well what a flight spirit artifact meant among spirit artifacts.
He believed no one could resist the temptation of a flight artifact, but wanting to redeem one required 190,000 contribution points—it was simply 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 flight artifact.
He felt deeply frustrated.
He could only look, yet could never make it his own.
*Tiangang Hammer, requires 120,000 contribution points to exchange.*
*Yunxiao Boots, requires 177,899 contribution points to exchange.*
He didn't bother reading further, because Su Chen had already realized one thing: relying on the thirty-odd thousand points in his hand to exchange for spirit treasures inside the Artifact Pavilion was sheer wishful thinking.
Any spirit artifact that could be successfully redeemed for under thirty thousand points was surely nothing good.
Just as Su Chen was about to leave, the Primordial Gods and Demons Art within his body suddenly began to circulate on its own. Su Chen whipped around, staring at the first floor of the Artifact Pavilion before him. To be able to trigger the Primordial Gods and Demons Art, this treasure was definitely extraordinary.
Following the divine and demonic aura pulsing through his body, Su Chen walked toward the locked-on direction.
An inconspicuous light orb on the far 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 it had been left unattended. Just the four words "flawed treasure" were enough to scare everyone away; 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 token in front of the light orb.
Instantly, the 10,000 contribution points on the token were deducted, leaving a little over twenty thousand.
The light orb vanished, and a mirror appeared in Su Chen's hand. Both sides were shattered; now he finally understood why this treasure was considered flawed.
The characters "Gods and Demons" were engraved on the handle, and Su Chen already knew the name of the item. Unsurprisingly, it had to be the so-called Gods and Demons Mirror.
"Pagoda Spirit, can this treasure be repaired?"
This was what Su Chen wanted to know most, because the Gods and Demons Mirror was a flawed item. If it couldn't be repaired, his 10,000 contribution points would have been completely wasted.
He had no idea whether he himself could repair it, so he could only ask the Pagoda Spirit.
Immediately, the Pagoda Spirit's voice resounded in his mind.
"To repair the Gods and Demons Mirror, the master can only use his soul to nurture it. However, the master must bear this in mind: nurturing the Gods and Demons Mirror with your soul will forge a special bond between you and the mirror. Should the mirror shatter, the master's soul will shatter along with it. Moreover, soul-nurturing the mirror consumes a vast amount of soul energy and requires a very long time."
Listening to the Pagoda Spirit's explanation, Su Chen drew in a sharp breath.
The meaning was simple.
If he wanted to repair the Gods and Demons Mirror, the only method was soul-nurturing. Yet soul-nurturing came with immense peril: if the mirror shattered, his soul would shatter, and the nurturing process would take a very long time.
His eyes stared fixedly at the Gods and Demons Mirror in his hand. In the end, Su Chen still chose soul-nurturing and consulted the Pagoda Spirit on how to carry it out.
It turned out he had to continuously feed the Gods and Demons Mirror with his soul. In doing so, it would inevitably affect his martial cultivation, seeing as the soul was of paramount importance to martial advancement.
Weighing the pros and cons, Su Chen ultimately decided to soul-nurture the Gods and Demons Mirror.
"You must be Su Chen from the elementary class, ranked first on the Potential Dragon Roll."
Hearing someone speak from behind, the Gods and Demons Mirror in Su Chen's hand vanished instantly. He turned around to face Shen Bingyue—this woman whom he had almost killed actually dared to come looking for him again.
Su Chen remained silent, unadulterated disgust and mockery written all over his face.
The more he acted like this, the angrier Shen Bingyue became. She said coldly, "My sister, Shen Bingxue, wants to see you."
Shen Bingxue, Shen Bingyue's older sister, belonged to the elite second class, at the Level 5 Golden Core Realm, 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 could actually seize first place on the Potential Dragon Roll during the tournament—that alone spoke volumes.
She had no choice but to seek help from her sister. Although doing so was quite ungraceful and would invite mockery from others, Shen Bingyue could no longer afford to care about that.
If she didn't win back her face, she was bound to become the laughingstock of the academy.
He directly chose to ignore her.
Let him go see Shen Bingxue?
He ignored her?
An enraged Shen Bingyue snapped, "Su Chen, don't you dare be so arrogant! My sister is from the elite second class!"
So what if she was from the elite class? Su Chen couldn't be bothered to argue. He suddenly remembered that he needed a spatial ring with a larger capacity; the one on his finger was simply too small and would soon become inadequate.
"Little sister, don't be rash."
At that moment, a woman walked in. She shared a six or seven-tenths resemblance with Shen Bingyue, but her aura was markedly colder. Dressed in snow-white robes that perfectly accentuated her figure,
"Shen Bingxue from the elite class."
Seeing Shen Bingxue, the eyes of many male students instantly lit up. After all, Shen Bingxue was even prettier than Shen Bingyue, and even across the entire academy, she was a renowned beauty with countless pursuers.
Approaching Shen Bingyue, Shen Bingxue stared at the thoroughly arrogant young man before her and said coldly, "Relying on some petty tricks to bully a woman, this junior really knows how to save face for men. This senior sister is truly in awe, which is why I specifically took the time today to see what kind of remarkable character this junior really is."
Insulting people without a single curse word—vicious enough!
Shen Bingyue's gaze was ice-cold as she locked her eyes onto the youth before her. If looks could kill, Su Chen would have died countless times over by now.
***
Not a trace of anger could be seen on his face; Su Chen acted as if he had completely tuned them out.
Shaking his head helplessly, Su Chen sneered, "Truly, birds of a feather flock together. You'd better stay far away from me, or else I'll make sure you remember this forever."
Utterly arrogant!
The surrounding onlookers silently gave him a thumbs-up. For an elementary class student, even if he could make it onto the Potential Dragon Roll, he had no business trying to contend with students from the elite classes.
In the elite classes, anyone picked at random was at the Golden Core Realm, and Shen Bingxue came from the elite second class at that—a Level 5 Golden Core Realm expert who had awakened the Ice and Snow Blood Wheel.
A Void Core Realm cultivator trying to fight a Golden Core Realm expert stood not a sliver of a chance.
"Su Chen, don't you dare be arrogant! In front of my sister, I will not allow you to run wild."
Stopping her angry younger sister, Shen Bingxue was also somewhat curious. She simply couldn't fathom where this fellow got such courage—was it purely because he ranked first on the Potential Dragon Roll?
The East Wasteland Academy had two major rankings: the Potential Dragon Roll and the Hundred Battles Roll.
One could say this: even the very last person on the Hundred Battles Roll could easily defeat the number one on the Potential Dragon Roll. That was the gap between the two rankings, and also the gap in cultivation realms—something nothing could bridge.
"She is your sister, not mine. Why shouldn't I run wild? If you ask me, the two of you are simply asking for it, looking to be scolded. I don't have time to entertain the two of you. Get out of my sight."
Not giving an ounce of face, Su Chen completely dismissed Shen Bingxue and Shen Bingyue. In his eyes, their beauty was worthless.
It left the surrounding crowd gasping in astonishment; this was truly the first time they had encountered such a person.
Shen Bingxue smiled and nodded, though anyone could tell that she was probably enraged to her absolute limit, merely forcing herself to endure it.
After all, Shen Bingxue was from the elite class. If she struck out casually against someone from the elementary class, leaving aside whether she would be punished by the academy, her pride alone couldn't take it.
Bullying the weak with strength—the reputation alone would sound terrible.
Precisely because of this, Shen Bingxue suppressed the fury in her heart and said coldly, "Su Chen, I, Shen Bingxue, formally challenge you. I accept any form of challenge, including a life-and-death battle. Do you dare to accept?"
A life-and-death battle?
Su Chen had already fought a life-and-death battle with Tang Hao once, which directly crippled Tang Hao's Blood Wheel. Up until now, neither the academy nor the Tang clan had made any moves; it seemed the academy had locked down the information.
To this day, no one in the academy knew that Tang Hao's Blood Wheel had been crippled; they only knew that Tang Hao had participated in the Potential Dragon tournament and never returned from the East Wasteland Forest.
Su Chen laughed, a smile full of deep mockery and contempt.
"You really are utterly shameless. As a dignified elite class student, you actually challenge me—a newly enrolled elementary class student. Let me ask you: are you sitting at the bottom of the elite class, and running over to my place to find a sense of validation?"
Naked contempt!
The surrounding crowd pointed and whispered. After all, for an elite class student to directly challenge an elementary class student—and moreover, one from the lowest elementary class—such a thing had never happened before; it was the first time in history.
"You're shameless!"
"Me? Shameless? The shameless ones are the two of you sisters, especially your older sister. If you want a life-and-death battle, wait until I enter the elite class. When that time comes, I'll let you know the gap between you and me."
Shen Bingxue, however, smiled coldly and scoffed, "Just based on you, you still want to enter the elite class? Three years? Five years? Or ten years? By the time you enter the elite class, I'll already have advanced to the imperial class."
Looking down on Su Chen completely, Shen Bingxue considered herself a genius. Even if she couldn't look down upon the entire academy, she was at least exceptionally formidable, and she had full confidence in herself to charge into the imperial class.
"Whether I can enter or not is none of your concern." Flashing a look of utter disgust, Su Chen truly detested such women. As for accepting the challenge, he wasn't an idiot; how could he possibly accept?
Although he was extremely confident in his own strength, Su Chen knew that with his current capabilities, he still wasn't able to defeat a Golden Core Realm warrior.