Extreme Spirit Chaos Technique

With those final words, the black shadow dissipated like smoke in the wind...

「Inner Holy Tomb Mountain」

Carrying the Red-Refined Blue Wings on his back, Mu Chen slowly stepped out of the courtyard. He looked up as rays of sunlight, carrying the pleasant scent of morning and a gentle warmth, pierced through the sky and shone on his fair face, feeling extremely comfortable.

"This Inner Mountain is truly strange," Mu Chen remarked with a sigh.

From a distance, the four levels of the Inner Mountain had appeared to be very close together; logically, the sunlight should have been completely blocked. But now that he was on the first level, he found that the second level was completely invisible to the naked eye. All he could see was a colossal, seven-colored pillar of light soaring into the sky. The point where it connected to the second level was impossible to look at directly.

Taking a gentle breath of the morning air, Mu Chen started walking toward the main instructional building. Yesterday, Dilaka had already told him where the building was, which saved him a lot of trouble finding it.

It only took Mu Chen a quarter of an hour to get from his dormitory to the instructional building. A normal walk would have likely taken several hours. Fortunately, for some unknown reason, there wasn’t a single person on the road, so Mu Chen was able to take full advantage of his Body Technique to sprint at top speed. With the support of Primordial Power, he might have been even faster.

Staring at the massive building before him, Mu Chen felt a bead of sweat roll down his temple. ’As expected of the continent’s most prestigious academy. Their grand scale is truly something else.’ The instructional building was more than ten times the size of the Xuanling Imperial Academy’s. And that wasn’t even the half of it—the main gate alone was extraordinary.

It was formed entirely from a Curtain Light Barrier. What puzzled Mu Chen, however, was that the barrier was currently closed, and displayed three large words.

"Class in Session..."

’This is bad...’ Dark lines appeared on Mu Chen’s forehead as he muttered to himself, ’I’m late. No wonder I didn’t see any students this morning. Does class at Holy Tomb Mountain really start this early?’

"Kid! What class are you in? Get over here and register with me."

Suddenly, a strange, bellowing voice from inside the gate reached Mu Chen’s ears. Mu Chen looked up and jumped in fright. The previously transparent Curtain Light Barrier now displayed the face of a red-faced old man. The crucial part was, he looked furious.

Mu Chen was stunned. "Um, old sir..."

"What ’old sir’! Call me Gatekeeper! Don’t try to be clever! I’ve already memorized your face. If you dare try to run, I’ll report you to the dean!" the old man shouted, then quickly opened the gate, muttering in confusion, "This is the first time I’ve ever seen a student who’s not only late but also dares to brazenly show up at the instructional building! Get in here and register!"

Seeing the gate open, Mu Chen could only step into the academy with a helpless expression. From the Outer Realm, one couldn’t tell, but as soon as he entered, Mu Chen saw a small, exquisite house to the right of the gate. At that moment, the door to the house opened, and an old man in a white robe stumbled out, holding a wine jug and looking at him with drunken eyes.

"Eh? You’re a cocky one, kid, not even wearing the Institute Uniform. Go on, tell me, what class are you in?" The old man took a few more steps forward and plopped down on a chair placed by the door. In front of the chair was a long table, and on it was a sign with the word "Gatehouse."

Mu Chen sniffed the alcohol wafting from the old man and rubbed his nose. Just as he was about to speak, the drunken old man who called himself the Gatekeeper shot to his feet, his murky eyes suddenly erupting with two sharp glints of light that shot toward Mu Chen.

"Wait! Your Martial Artist Realm... a First-Ring Martial Sect?! What’s going on? Since when did a First-Ring Martial Sect appear in Holy Tomb Mountain? How did you get in?"

The old man hastily put away his wine jug, the alcohol-induced flush on his face instantly receding. With a stomp of his foot, he shot to Mu Chen’s side at a speed Mu Chen found incomprehensible, reaching out to grab his shoulder.

Faced with this sudden turn of events, Mu Chen felt shock and anger but didn’t react otherwise. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but rather that he currently couldn’t use his Primordial Power at all. Against an old man of an unknown realm, what chance did he have to dodge?

"Hm? No reaction?" The old man’s claw-like hand stopped just before Mu Chen’s shoulder. He looked at Mu Chen with surprise, then retracted his hand. "Speak up, kid. How did you enter Inner Holy Tomb Mountain?"

Mu Chen said irritably, "You were just drinking."

"..." The old man was furious. The completely unrelated answer felt utterly nonsensical to him. "I asked you how you got into the Inner Mountain! What does my drinking have to do with anything?"

Mu Chen said, "I just came in. The normal way."

"Bullshit..." the old man, Gatekeeper Du, turned and snapped. "From ancient times to this day, Holy Tomb Mountain has never heard of a Sect Realm Martial Artist setting foot here! That’s true for the Outer Mountain, and even more impossible for the Inner Mountain! Do you think I’m so drunk my vision’s blurry?"

Mu Chen shrugged. "Believe it or not, Teacher Dilaka told me to come find the dean."

"Who the hell is ’Teacher Dilaka’? There’s no instructor by that name in the academy! You really think I’m that easy to fool? ’Find the dean,’ he says." The old man babbled on, then his eyes suddenly widened and he exclaimed, "W-What? Did you say Dilaka... D-D-D-Dilaka... Teacher?"

"You’re saying that the Great Elder Dilaka is your teacher?!" the old man asked frantically, grabbing Mu Chen’s shoulders.

Mu Chen broke out in a sweat and couldn’t help but wonder, ’Why is such a bizarre old man the gatekeeper for the Inner Mountain Academy?’ Still, he nodded and said, "Yes. Actually, I’m a student who passed the Inner Mountain assessment this year. Yesterday, Teacher Dilaka told me to come to the academy to get my Inner Mountain Certificate from the dean, but I didn’t know what time class started, so I was late..."

The white-robed old man looked Mu Chen up and down, his gaze falling on Mu Chen’s plain clothes and the Jade Token at his waist (the one from the entrance assessment). He nodded and said, "Hold on. You’re saying you passed the Inner Mountain assessment with the strength of a First-Ring Martial Sect, were personally led in by the Great Elder Dilaka, and were told to find the dean?"

Mu Chen’s face darkened as he nodded again. The old man’s incessant chatter was leaving him speechless. But in order to get through the gate, he had no choice but to cooperate.

"Then tell me, what’s the surname of the dean you’re looking for?" the old man asked again, as if determined to get to the bottom of this. After all, a First-Ring Martial Sect suddenly showing up at the Inner Mountain Academy asking for the dean was simply too absurd.

Mu Chen sighed. He seemed to understand that if he didn’t completely eliminate the old man’s suspicions, he wasn’t getting through this gate.

"Her surname is Wang. Dean Wang. Dean Wang Miaoling!"

After answering, Mu Chen reached up and brushed the old man’s hand off his shoulder. However, this very movement made Gatekeeper Du’s eyes narrow. He grabbed Mu Chen’s wrist, staring at the simple, ancient-looking Golden Ring on his finger. "This is... an Elder Ring! This... this really is Great Elder Dilaka’s ring. Kid, you’re really the Great Elder’s student?!"

Gatekeeper Du seemed to find it hard to believe, but the discovery of the Elder Ring left him no choice. He could only say, "It seems you must be a Special Recruitment student. Let’s go. Follow me to the dean’s office."

Mu Chen pursed his lips. ’I’m not any Special Recruitment student,’ he thought, but he didn’t bother explaining. He just followed Gatekeeper Du toward one of the academy’s buildings.

Along the way, the old man asked about this and that. Mu Chen felt as if tens of thousands of birds and beasts were chirping in his ears, making it impossible to find any quiet. He suddenly asked, "Gatekeeper, is drinking permitted during work hours in the Inner Mountain?"

Gatekeeper Du, who had been chattering away cheerfully, answered without thinking when he heard Mu Chen’s question. "Of course not. The rules in the Inner Mountain are very strict... Hmm? I feel like I just accidentally said something strange."

After muttering this to himself, Gatekeeper Du gave Mu Chen an embarrassed smile. "Well, uh, kid, you should know, this gatekeeper gig is actually the most boring job there is. Besides opening the gate for students in the morning and closing it at night, there’s nothing to do. But I still have to stay here in the gatehouse, so I just had to find something to entertain myself, and had a little drink. You can understand, right?"

As he spoke, he gave Mu Chen a meaningful look, the implication obvious: "You get it."

Mu Chen flashed an innocent smile and returned Gatekeeper Du’s look. "I get it."

The old man was instantly overjoyed and went right back to his rambling. The journey from the gate to the dean’s office was only a few thousand meters, but Gatekeeper Du had said enough to fill a short novel. Upon seeing the words "Dean’s Office," Mu Chen finally let out a huge sigh of relief. Without waiting for the gatekeeper to lead him, he knocked on the door himself.

"Come in." It was the clear, cold voice of a woman.

Fortunately, when Mu Chen had heard the name Wang Miaoling, he had already determined that the dean of the Inner Mountain’s first level was a woman. Though he had been surprised, it wasn’t hard to accept. After all, judging from the strength of the Black Rose faction, it was clear that on Holy Tomb Mountain, the women were stronger than the men.

CLICK...

The doorknob turned. Mu Chen slowly opened the door, and a simple, tidy office appeared before his eyes. The furnishings were spartan, but the room itself was extremely clean and bright. Directly opposite the door was a simple, old-fashioned desk. Behind the desk sat a woman with her hair tied up in a bun. Following his gaze up past her smooth forehead, he saw a pair of large, black-framed glasses.

This was Wang Miaoling, the dean of the first level of Inner Holy Tomb Mountain.

CLACK.

Because Mu Chen had the giant sword case for his Red-Refined Blue Wings on his back, he had to turn sideways to enter the room, which took some time. This, however, did not affect Wang Miaoling’s work.

Reading the room was a basic skill everyone should have. Wang Miaoling was clearly busy with something important, so after entering, Mu Chen didn’t speak immediately, instead standing quietly off to one side.

Gatekeeper Du followed Mu Chen inside. The moment he saw Wang Miaoling, an almost imperceptible look of fear appeared in his eyes, and he, too, surprisingly remained silent.

Wang Miaoling, who was rapidly drawing on her desk with an Elemental Power Pen, showed the faintest hint of a smile, though it vanished in an instant. She wasn’t in a hurry to speak. After all, as the dean, her daily workload was immense...