“Uh…” Elder Wu also glanced at Xiao Chen seriously and said, “Lad, why are you so curious? There are some things that I don’t know as well. So how can I tell you?” It seemed that Elder Wu didn’t know about the secret of that Illusory Beast.

“All right, sir. If you are unwilling to tell me the truth, I won’t bother you anymore. I’m leaving now.”

After that, Xiao Chen turned around and walked out of the stone room. He thought to himself, “Well, if Elder Wu asks me for help next time, I will refuse to help unless he tells me everything he knows.”

“Wait!” Elder Wu stopped Xiao Chen and said, “Remember what I have told you. Don’t mention what happened to anyone. When you come here next time, try to find a way to… lure the Gollum Beast out.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll help you.”

Xiao Chen shook his right hand and went out. Night was coming. A gentle breeze ruffled Xiao Chen’s hair, which made him feel very comfortable. He went to the Transmission Formation and said to Chu Qi, “Let’s go.”

Under the moonlight, they returned to the island of the Wind-heeding Pavilion. On the way, the breeze gently released the scent of blossoms, combining the fragrance of different species together. Chu Qi walked silently. Xiao Chen looked at her and said, “Chu Qi, if someone gives you something, don’t take it casually, understand?”

“Okay…” Chu Qi moved her lips slightly and only managed to utter a single word.

Xiao Chen smiled gently. In fact, he had noticed that although Chu Qi didn’t like to talk or laugh, she wasn’t as cold and unfeeling as Qingluan. Moreover, Qingluan would take every matter into consideration, while Chu Qi never took the initiative to do things unless Xiao Chen asked her to do. She seemed to be…

“By the way, Chu Qi, how is Yang Qing now?”

“I received a message from him yesterday. It said that you’d better go back to Forever City in person.”

Xiao Chen nodded and replied, “We’ll go once all the problems here are solved.”

Xiao Chen took a deep breath. After all, Ren Tianxing was the person whom Gui Xian told Xiao Chen to find. Whether Xiao Chen was able to find Ren Tianxing might be of great importance to Xiao Chen’s success in the future, so he had to try his best to find him. Now, it was the early winter, and he had been in the Wastelands for two months. He wondered how Forever City was doing.

Just as he was deep in thought, two men in green walked up to him and greeted him with a smile. “Junior Brother Xiao, Junior Sister Chu Qi.”

Xiao Chen smiled and greeted them as well. Since Xiao Chen got into the Earth Ranking in 3rd place and won honor for the Wind-heeding Pavilion, he was now a celebrity in the Wind-heeding Pavilion.

Back in the courtyard, Xiao Chen ordered some pickled vegetables as usual. Today, he also ordered a pot of wine. Together with Chu Qi, he began to enjoy his dinner at the stone table in the courtyard.

“By the way, Chu Qi, I suddenly remembered something. Do you remember that seven women tried to assassinate me when I took part in the Wastelands Sword Tryout last time?” Xiao Chen took the bowl, picked up a piece of cauliflower, and put it into his mouth.

“Well, when we get out, you should be more careful, Lord. I will do my best to protect you.”

After dinner, Xiao Chen let Chu Qi returned to her room for a bath and rest. He tidied up all the utensils and channeled his powers. He had reached the fifth level of the Medium Nirvana Realm and would need even more Mystic Stones in the future.

The moon was hidden by thick clouds. After a month of cultivation, Xiao Chen was extremely exhausted. Thus, he also went back to his room early to rest. The Mist Mountain was shrouded in boundless darkness. In a large hall, there were several Illumination Formations emitting faint and white light. It could be seen that four people were sitting in the hall.

They were Elder Wu of the Mystic Sky Pavilion, and the three Perfected Immortals in the Cloud Mist Academy, namely Perfected Immortal Chongyang, Perfected Immortal Zihui, and Perfected Immortal Qingxu.

The four people looked a little solemn. Perfected Immortal Qingxu said, “Elder Wu, do you mean that Xiao Chen can enter the stone room where the Wood-like Spirit is? And the Wood-like Spirit is very kind and even attached to him?”

Elder Wu frowned deeply and said, “That’s right. It really makes me wonder. If the Wood-like Spirit accidentally broke into the mystic room back then, I’ve entered the room countless times over the years, but I still failed to find which room it’s hiding in. Why is this child able to find the Wood-like Spirit so easily each time?”

The three Perfected Immortals all frowned. Perfected Immortal Qingxu said, “At that time, the Spirit Master was seriously injured by that person and had to… And the Wood-like Spirit was once cultivated by the three Saints… However, even though the Wood-like Spirit developed intelligence because of the Spirit Master, it would not have an attachment to human beings. Is that guy…”

Perfected Immortal Zihui shook his head and said, “Senior Brother, you think too much. How can there be such an absurd thing in the world? What’s more, even the three Saints can’t be of much help. I don’t think there is someone else comparable to the three Saints.”

Perfected Immortal Qingxu nodded, while Perfected Immortal Chongyang still frowned as if he was getting more and more worried. For the last Wastelands Sword Tryout, the Fighting Platform suddenly exploded and burst out mighty power. Even for him, it was still hard to guarantee that he could be uninjured. However, Xiao Chen not only survived the explosion but also kept from being injured. Was he really in possession of an extraordinary treasure? Moreover, on that day, Xiao Chen seemed to be dead, but in the end, he still came back to life…

Perfected Immortal Qingxu sighed and added, “Well, it is not a bad thing to discover the Wood-like Spirit. I’m just worried…”

“Senior Brother, are you worried that that guy will also have an inseparable feeling for the Wood-like Spirit in the future?” Perfected Immortal Zihui took over the words.

Perfected Immortal Qingxu nodded, with his face turned more gloomy. The other three people fell silent for a few minutes. Finally, all of them heaved a long and deep sigh.

…

The next morning, more than 200 new disciples of the Wind-heeding Pavilion got up early. They were very excited and chatted with each other, just like a group of noisy birds in the woods. Today, they could go to the first district for cultivation!

Led by Xiao Chen, these naughty, noisy, and undisciplined disciples went to the training area behind the main peak. There was no doubt that they were still the last to go. The other three groups of newcomers had already lined up neatly.

Seeing that, the Elder in charge of distributing the training areas frowned and wanted to reprimand them. But in the end, he only said with a gentle face, “Come here, quickly.”

“Oh!” The new disciples of the Wind-heeding Pavilion lined up in a hurry, like a swarm of bees, but they still stood in a mess again. The Elder still didn’t say anything. After all, Xiao Chen had gotten No. 3 on the Earth Ranking.

“Okay! Be quiet!” The Elder frowned and said, “Listen carefully to the new arrangement about the training areas! According to the updated Mystic Sky Rankings, all disciples of the Wind-heeding Pavilion have been arranged to cultivate in the first district…”

“Wow!” Before the Elder finished his words, the disciples of the Wind-heeding Pavilion immediately began to cheer and bounce around. The Elder coughed to ask for silence. “Be quiet! Be quiet!” Then he continued, “All disciples of the Purple Thunder Pavilion will go to the second district, the Moon-watch Hall will go to the third district, and the Pavilion of Swords will go to the fourth district. All right, now you can go to your training areas!”

“Oh! Let’s go to the first district! Someone is being kicked down!” The cheering youths of the Wind-heeding Pavilion rushed toward the teleportation formation in the first district.

Beigong Qin clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles cracked. He glared at Xiao Chen, who walked past him. “I swear I’ll take back what I lost! You! I’ll kick you down myself! I’ll make sure you’ll never be able to turn back!”

Xiao Chen walked with his hands clasped behind his back and smiled gently. “Let‘s talk about this when you have kicked me off from the rankings. What’s the point of talking so much now?” He ignored Beigong Qin and headed for the teleportation formation.

“Xiao Chen, I’ll definitely make you pay a heavy price for this…” Beigong Qin was infuriated by the scorn in his voice. Then, he focused his eyes on Qin Tianyu, Xu Ling’er, and the others. A fierce glint flashed in his eyes.

“Brother Xiao Chen! Hurry up! Hehe!” Xu Ling’er took Xiao Chen’s left hand while Qin Tianyu took Xiao Chen’s right hand. The three people quickly ran toward the teleportation formation.

“Haha, don’t run too fast!”

“Wow!” Almost all the disciples couldn’t help exclaiming once they arrived at the first district covered with vegetation.

Since last month Beigong Qin took the liberty of using the Spiritual Array to plunder the Spiritual Qi in the other three areas, the Spiritual Qi in the first district was more abundant than before. Many girls stretched out their fingers and gently touched the droplets of Spiritual Qi floating in the air. Those droplets did not disperse, instead, they slowly floated to other places.

Xiao Chen also felt that the Spiritual Qi here was really different from that in the fourth district, and was even several times more abundant than in the Flower Valley where Xiao Chen and Su Lianyue were once trapped. For a time, he was reluctant to leave here.

The time passed so quickly. In the afternoon, the new disciples went to the Mystic Sky Pavilion to get their last month’s Mystic Stones. Because Xiao Chen was listed in 3rd place on the Earth Ranking, he received nearly 700 Mystic Stones at a time. It was as if he had made a fortune. In short, the youths were having a good time on this day. They almost could not help going down the mountain to celebrate.

At night, a crescent moon gradually hung overhead, like a sharp blade, cold and silent. Chu Qi knocked on Xiao Chen’s door and whispered, “Yang Qing just sent me another message. Lord, are you going back in person tomorrow?”

“Well, I’m going to prepare some things. We’ll leave tomorrow. You should go to bed early tonight.”

In the room, Xiao Chen was sitting on the floor, making some seal talismans and jade notes, which were prepared for Qin Tianyu and the other disciples of the Wind-heeding Pavilion. In the beginning, he only intended to draw them over to his side, but after getting along with them for a month, he had built close relationships with them. Thus, Xiao Chen didn’t want those led by Beigong Qin to find trouble with Qin Tianyu and the other disciples of the Wind-heeding Pavilion again after Xiao Chen left.

The next morning, accompanied by Chu Qi, Xiao Chen went to the training area behind the main peak as usual. But today, he saw many disciples gathered at the fork in the road, where newcomers and senior disciples would go their separate ways to different training areas. Some senior disciples stopped the newcomers to ask for the Mystic Stones they had received yesterday.

“Six Mystic Stones? Why is it twice as much as last month?”

At this moment, many newcomers showed dissatisfaction and complained. Except for those who got a high place on the Mystic Sky Rankings, most newcomers could only collect about 10 Mystic Stones a month. There would not be many left if they handed over six Mystic Stones.

A senior disciple with a cyan badge said, “I am only conveying the message from our Senior Brothers. All right, guys who have handed over the Mystic Stones can pass, but if you haven’t, then stay here.”

Another senior disciple impatiently added, “This is the rule here. In the first three years, the only thing you need to do is learn. The Mystic Stones are useless for you. In the future, if you get more Mystic Stones, you should hand over more respectively. All right, hurry up.”

Beigong Qin frowned and said to the crowd behind him, “Hand them over.”

“Forget it, forget it! We’ll hand the Mystic Stones over!” The disciples of the Purple Thunder Pavilion had been already extremely vexed. They reluctantly handed over the Mystic Stones one after another and headed toward their training area. They avoid these senior disciples like the plague and didn’t want to see them again.

The disciples of the other two districts had handed over their Mystic Stones. Only those of the Wind-heeding Pavilion seemed to be a bit reluctant to do that. Qin Tianyu shouted loudly, “Wait! Why should we give our own things to them every month? They’re just stealing! Last month, we suffered all kinds of humiliation. Do they care about our lives? Brother Xiao led us up here. This month, we won’t hand over our Mystic Stones!”

Bai Ling, the leader of those senior disciples, stood with her hands behind her back, showing no emotion. She said calmly, “This the rule here. If you don’t want to follow it, you should survive my sword first.”

As her voice fell, she heard loud and clear laughter behind her. “Senior Sister Bai Ling, do I have the opportunity to challenge you again?”