In the vast expanse of heaven and earth, an ancient forest stretched endlessly, white clouds shifted in the sky, and a great sun emanated infinite light and heat.
Spirit beasts ran through the forest, their sharp cries echoing, and occasionally, massive spirit beasts emerged from the sea of trees, their enormous size inspiring awe.
Above a desolate mountainous area, a colossal bluestone platform floated, appearing utterly out of place in this ancient, primordial-like World.
A pillar of light appeared out of thin air, and Mu Chen stepped out of it, surveying his surroundings.
He had been transported here through the spirit array set up by the Five Great Academies in the North Spirit Academy. The scene before him didn't quite match his expectations; this place didn't look like an academy at all.
Pillars of light appeared successively around him, and figures emerged from them. Most of these individuals were roughly his age, and their auras indicated that their cultivation was largely at the Spirit Wheel Realm.
Some people had already started conversing in groups of three or five. From their conversations, Mu Chen learned that there was another test before entering the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, and this place was probably the testing ground.
"Hmm? Why do I feel like I'm the only one who didn't know?" A hint of doubt flashed through Mu Chen's mind.
"Perhaps that Mr. Hun forgot to tell you all," Amon's voice echoed in his mind. "Or perhaps, in his opinion, it didn't matter whether he told you or not."
Mu Chen's mouth twitched slightly. He felt it did matter, at least a heads-up would have prepared them mentally.
A pillar of light appeared not far to Mu Chen's left. He subconsciously looked over and saw a tall girl with a hime-cut hairstyle, dressed in black.
Her eyes were blood-red. Seeing Mu Chen openly appraising her, she slightly turned her face and said coldly:
"What are you looking at? Don't you want your eyes anymore? Hmm… he's a handsome young man, so it's fine."
Mu Chen rubbed his nose, hearing the black-haired girl muttering softly to herself:
"What kind of damn test is this? It's boring to death, and they don't even allow killing. It's like children playing house."
Mu Chen caught a whiff of blood from her, not that she had just killed someone, but a kind of aura acquired from excessive slaughter. He silently labeled her as "not to be trifled with."
The number of people on the platform grew. Just as the pillars of light stopped appearing and the number of people stopped increasing, the stone tablet in the center of the platform suddenly glowed, coalescing into a black-robed figure, who was none other than Mr. Hun, whom Mu Chen had met once before.
"Greetings, young friends. I am one of the invigilators for this test at the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy. I will now explain the rules of this assessment."
"This place is called the North Cang Realm. The platform you are standing on is the reception platform. There are hundreds of reception platforms throughout the North Cang Realm, and there are four such spaces similar to the North Cang Realm."
"The North Cang Realm is vast, filled with various dangerous places and powerful spirit beasts. You need to pass through the obstacles and reach the Bei Cang Hall in the center, where there is a teleportation array to the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy."
"Each of you, touch this stone tablet, and you will receive a mark. The initial level for regular slots is one, for seed slots it's three, and for core slots, it's five."
"The level is not fixed. Whenever you kill a spirit beast or obtain a natural treasure containing spirit power, the mark will automatically absorb some spirit power, thus upgrading."
"Marks can also be snatched from each other. Additionally, any student who has not reached the Bei Cang Hall or whose mark level is below four after the assessment time ends will be eliminated."
Mr. Hun's illusory face showed no joy or sorrow. After calmly reciting the rules without any fluctuation in his tone, he disappeared.
The students successively touched the stone tablet. On the platform where Mu Chen was, besides him, there were three other people with seed slots.
The four exchanged wary glances. Suddenly, an exclamation sounded beside the stone tablet.
"A five-level mark! She actually has a five-level mark!"
Following the sound, a fair hand retracted from the stone tablet, and a golden light materialized the "five" mark on its owner's forehead.
"It's her…" Mu Chen's eyes narrowed slightly. This core slot holder with a five-level mark was precisely the black-haired girl he had seen earlier.
The black-haired girl brushed her hair back, her blood-red eyes sweeping over the surrounding crowd, then slowly walked towards the edge of the reception platform.
Along the way, the crowd parted to make way for her.
"As expected of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, to recruit such a powerful individual among its students," Mu Chen mused inwardly.
The black-haired girl gave him a sense of danger even greater than Liu Jingshan back then! If she were in the Bei Ling Territory, she alone could probably sweep through the Nine Territories.
"Power, power, you need power! Little Mu Mu, let's make a trade!" Amon casually promoted herself.
Mu Chen ignored her as usual.
"Mu Chen, try to get more spirit beast essences in this North Cang Realm. It can speed up my recovery," Nine Nether Bird said.
Amon glanced at her, and Nine Nether immediately bristled, shrinking into the corner of the flower prison, speaking incoherently:
"You, you… We agreed, I belong to Mu Chen now, it has nothing to do with you."
Amon nodded: "Mm-hmm, we agreed. I won't lay a hand on you, but I also need to eat spirit beast essences."
Mu Chen interjected: "Nine Nether is so weak because she lent me her power last time, so it's only right that I give her spirit beast essences. As for you, you can't just freeload, can you? My demands aren't high; give me a suitable spirit art, and I'll split half with you."
He wore a smile on his face. He had been in contact with Amon for quite some time now, several months, and neither he nor Nine Nether had discovered Amon leaving his Qi Sea. So, he boldly speculated that Amon might also be constrained by something, preventing her from manifesting in the outside World.
"Wait, let me find it…" Amon rummaged through the small satchel hanging on her.
Mu Chen glanced at her small satchel, guessing it must be a special spirit artifact.
"Found it, this one will do," Amon took out a jade slip and flicked it out.
A ball of light appeared from Mu Chen's chest, floating before him, with a jade slip encased within the light.
Mu Chen extended his right hand, grasped the jade slip, and channeled his soul power into it. A cultivation technique immediately appeared in his mind.
"Blood Emperor Body Tempering Art… Slaying powerful enemies, bathing in blood, tempering the body, condensing a Blood Emperor's Body… A body-tempering divine art."
Mu Chen muttered in his heart, he always felt that this body-tempering art wasn't that simple, as if it left something unsaid.
Amon said with a grin: "How is it? Satisfied?"
Mu Chen nodded slightly: "Satisfied, very satisfied… But this is just an incomplete version, isn't it? There should be a continuation."
"Hehe, you noticed, huh? This is only the first and second levels, but even these two levels are already at the divine art tier. It has ten levels in total, you know. The complete Blood Emperor Body Tempering Art is a Great Perfection Divine Art."
Mu Chen's eyes widened slightly, a little surprised.
Above divine-tier spirit arts are divine arts, which are further divided into Minor Divine Arts, Major Divine Arts, Quasi-Great Perfection Divine Arts, and Great Perfection Divine Arts.
The complete Blood Emperor Body Tempering Art was actually a Great Perfection Divine Art!
Aside from the unknown level of the Great Floating Pagoda Art left by his mother, the highest-level spirit art he had seen in the Bei Ling Territory was only at the Spirit Tier. He hadn't expected that with just a casual mention, Amon would produce such a good item.
Amon added: "This Blood Emperor Body Tempering Art is derived from the Blood Emperor Dharma Body and was created by Hun Tiandi."
"Hun Tiandi… Are you referring to that Hun Tiandi? The great figure who once clashed with the Flame Emperor?" Mu Chen said, shocked.
The Soul Hall Master, Hun Tiandi, was a formidable existence even in the vast Great Thousand World.
It was said that he and the master of the Endless Fire Territory, Flame Emperor Xiao Yan, came from the same plane. The two were once archenemies, always evenly matched, only narrowly losing in the final decisive battle by a single move.
Amon said with a strange tone: "That's right, it's that Hun Tiandi."
She paused, then revealed a sly smile: "Hehe, aren't you tempted? I have the complete version here, only five percent of the Evil King True Eye. Do you want to consider it?"
Good heavens, no wonder she was so generous, so that's where the catch was!
Five percent of the Evil King True Eye… It seemed acceptable, after all, this was a cultivation technique created by Hun Tiandi! Mu Chen was genuinely tempted.
He asked: "Spirit arts are not something used in emergencies, so their price shouldn't increase, right?"
He felt he had suffered a huge loss in the previous transaction.
Amon had once offered to trade Nine Nether to him. The initial price was five percent, and after he refused, she said she could give an 80% discount, meaning four percent, but he still refused.
However, Liu Jingshan put Mu Feng in danger, forcing him to make the first trade.
He hadn't expected Nine Nether alone could resolve that crisis, and the key was that he had paid ten percent as a price, meaning he lost one and a half Nine Nether Birds!
Although given Mu Feng's importance in his heart, even if Amon had demanded more, he would have gritted his teeth and agreed, but compared to before, he still felt he had lost too much!
Amon's smile remained unchanged: "Of course not, it's always been this price. You can think about it carefully."
After much consideration, Mu Chen ultimately managed to resist the temptation. He decided to practice it first and see.
Mu Chen calmed down from the shock brought by the Blood Emperor Body Tempering Art. He suddenly thought of a question:
"Such a high-level divine art, even within the Soul Hall, isn't something ordinary people are qualified to learn, right? How do you possess the complete version?"
Amon's lips curved into an arc. She raised her right hand, pinched the crystal monocle, and said with a light chuckle:
"I'm not sure about the secrecy level of the Blood Emperor Body Tempering Art, but how I obtained this divine art is my secret… You guess."
Mu Chen didn't bother to guess, he just felt Amon became even more mysterious.
The students on the reception platform had already started leaving. Mu Chen walked to the edge of the bluestone platform, leaped down, and then sprinted towards the depths of the dense forest.