Red City Grand Theater.
In the center of the front row, Chen Mobai sat with his right fist propping up his cheek, eyes half-closed, listening to the celestial-like voice of Meng Huang'er as she rehearsed on stage.
Beside him were Bian Yiqing and members of the Student Council, including Hua Zijing.
Chen Mobai was a man of his word.
Even after chatting with Meng Huang'er and realizing he might have been tricked by Zuo Qiushi, he had promised to help, and there was no backing out now.
Thus, for the past few days, he had been personally leading the capable members of the Student Council, responding to Bian Yiqing's call to assist here in Red City Cave Heaven.
As expected, the integration of spirit and body that was slightly lacking in maturity was completed amidst Meng Huang'er's healing voice, achieving the final unity.
Within the Purple Mansion Sea of Consciousness, a Biyu Wutong tree with two branches and over twenty green buds took root, symbolizing the manifestation of Chen Mobai's spiritual consciousness, his life essence.
If he were practicing the art of the Union of Man and Heaven, using the formless puppet for deduction, this would be the form of his object of union.
It was a pity that the fourth-tier Biyu Wutong in Danxia City had been claimed by Taoist Master Shi Qing; otherwise, he might have considered switching to the practice of the Union of Man and Heaven.
After all, the example of Zhong Li Tianyu was right before his eyes. If he could truly transform the Biyu Wutong into his object of union, perhaps he wouldn't need the fruit of the Tree of Longevity to reach the pinnacle of Foundation Establishment in a short time.
But this was just a thought, as the practice of the Union of Man and Heaven required even more exceptional talents than the Pure Yang Scripture.
Chen Mobai had used the formless puppet to deduce once, and his compatibility with the Divine Transformation method was quite average.
The Pure Yang Scripture was more suitable for him. After all, as long as he kept using spirit stones, he could step by step elevate his Fire Spiritual Root to a Heavenly Spirit Root, without the need for elusive compatibilities or opportunities.
After integrating spirit and body, the Divine Command Art had reached its final layer… "Wandering Spirit Commanding Qi"!
At this realm, one could interfere with the void and reality using spiritual consciousness.
After undergoing division and integration, Chen Mobai's spiritual consciousness seemed to have metamorphosed, achieving a qualitative improvement.
With a mere thought, one of the green buds on the Biyu Wutong rooted in the center of the Purple Mansion Sea of Consciousness broke off from the branch and transformed into an invisible thought-blade.
This was the "Divine Command Slash"!
Against opponents with a lower realm of spiritual consciousness, it could achieve an unconditional instant kill.
Even if the opponent's realm of spiritual consciousness was higher, this move could be used to disturb their mind and find a critical weakness to exploit.
If he had mastered this move earlier, he wouldn't have had to reveal all his cards and barely win against Zuo Qiushi.
Chen Mobai carefully counted; the Biyu Wutong now had twenty-three green buds on its two branches, meaning he could execute twenty-three "Divine Command Slashes."
Besides the green buds, there were also two Wutong fruits on the branches.
If Chen Mobai were willing to expend the essence of his spiritual consciousness to use the Divine Command Slash with the fruits, even a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator might not be able to withstand it.
However, his first thought was to continue splitting the Biyu Wutong.
After all, the "Divine Command Art" could be cultivated repeatedly.
Chen Mobai decided to wait until he had adapted to the sudden doubling of his spiritual consciousness after integrating spirit and body, and then continue to split and nurture the Qingtong saplings.
Moreover, with the growth of his spiritual consciousness, he could consider refining the remaining half of the Bimu Spirit Heart.
***
"President…"
As he pondered how to continue enhancing his strength, a familiar voice from outside awakened him from his meditation.
"Hmm, has the rehearsal ended?"
Chen Mobai opened his eyes and looked at the stage, noticing that the performers were already packing up the various props.
"Yes, you said to call you when the rehearsal was over. Are you going on a date with the big star again?"
Hua Zijing said with a hint of irritation.
Originally, she wasn't on the list for this exchange event, but Chen Mobai thought that since he wasn't familiar with the Student Council members, leading the team personally would be exhausting, so he specifically named her to help.
He also had Shen Renyou, who was in charge of the matter, follow along.
Bian Yiqing was very pleased to see the new president of the Student Council bringing two vice presidents to help, thinking that Chen Mobai was giving him face.
However, after the rehearsal ended that day and Chen Mobai came backstage to chat with Meng Huang'er for a bit, Bian Yiqing realized that things were not as he had thought.
But as a teacher, he wouldn't forcefully intervene.
However, considering Chen Mobai's somewhat ambiguous relationship with that Heavenly Spirit Root in Danxia City, Bian Yiqing still subtly reminded Meng Huang'er to see through the true nature of men before committing.
During this time, the relationship between Chen Mobai and Meng Huang'er had gradually warmed from its previous indifference. Starting from the day before yesterday, they even began going out to eat together.
However, their first meal was somewhat restrained.
Meng Huang'er brought along her senior brother Jiang Yuyuan, and Chen Mobai also brought Hua Zijing to set the scene.
After a few days of cautious interaction, it was Jiang Yuyuan and Hua Zijing who felt awkward.
Now, as mealtime approached again, Hua Zijing was somewhat reluctant.
She didn't want to be the third wheel, and if it weren't for the chance to see the handsome Jiang Yuyuan, she wouldn't have agreed to it.
"Today I have something else to do, so I'll head back first." Chen Mobai had just integrated spirit and body, and the final realm of the Divine Command Art, "Wandering Spirit Commanding Qi," was still somewhat unstable, so he felt it was better to go into seclusion for a few days.
"Eh?" Hua Zijing had already done her makeup and even let down her usually tied ponytail, styling it into an attractive look to make a good impression on Jiang Yuyuan.
But then Chen Mobai said he wasn't going to meet up.
"What's wrong?" Chen Mobai was a bit puzzled, but it was only then that he noticed Hua Zijing looked quite beautiful today, wearing a black dress that perfectly highlighted her tall and fair figure, and her long black hair draped over her shoulders, making her look several times more attractive than her usual stern and dignified appearance at the Student Council.
"Nothing…" Hua Zijing could only grit her teeth and utter three words.
"Oh, then I'll be going. After observing these past few days, I think the two of you are fully capable of maintaining order."
"What do you mean by that?"
Shen Renyou hadn't quite caught on, but Hua Zijing understood and asked with widened eyes.
"Starting tomorrow, I won't be coming. On the day of the official exchange, just let me know, and I'll come over to make an appearance and meet with representatives from other academies."
Chen Mobai stated his intentions very straightforwardly.
Everyone from the Student Council was stunned.
What's going on?
Weren't you here to pursue Meng Huang'er?
Why are you retreating just when success seemed within reach?
No one falls out of love that quickly!
Regardless of what they thought, Chen Mobai, having achieved his purpose, continued his cultivation life between Wanbao Cave and Xiao Nanshan, not even returning to the little wooden house he had rented.
"Did you reject him?"
Two days later, when Jiang Yuyuan no longer saw Chen Mobai's figure in the seats below, he asked Meng Huang'er with a puzzled face. Her expression was the most complex he had ever seen—resentful, sorrowful, confused, annoyed, and more…
She didn't understand why this man, after only pursuing her for a few days, suddenly let go.
Was it because she wasn't progressing fast enough?
If she had known, she would have gone to the appointment alone.
Why was he so impatient!
***
Chen Mobai was completely unaware of the complex thoughts of Meng Huang'er and the others. After stabilizing his "Wandering Spirit Commanding Qi" realm, he excitedly took out the half of the Bimu Spirit Heart that had been sealed in his Storage Bag.
Inside the glass bottle, the blue solution had been frozen by Yan Bingxuan into a chunk, resembling a huge sapphire, with the half of the Bimu Spirit Heart at its core.
To ensure no disturbance, Chen Mobai had specially rented a cultivation room from the academy.
Having had the experience of absorbing it once, he was not worried about refining this spiritual object.
However, due to the three layers of seals and to ensure the potency of the Bimu Spirit Heart was not lost, he needed to be extra careful.
Fortunately, with the completion of the Divine Command Art, his spiritual consciousness had increased, allowing him to be sufficiently meticulous in the unsealing process.
Following the unsealing incantation left by Qing Nv and Yan Bingxuan, Chen Mobai began to dissolve the power sealing the Bimu Spirit Heart.
Time passed quickly.
After fully absorbing the Bimu Spirit Heart, Chen Mobai opened his eyes. If anyone had been in the cultivation room, they would have seen an invisible, formless blade flickering in his gaze, captivating and profound.
He felt the space in his Purple Mansion Sea of Consciousness, which had previously occupied about a quarter of the space due to the growth of the Qingtong sapling, had expanded once again.
The Biyu Wutong tree, which had two branches, now only occupied one-sixth of the Purple Mansion Sea of Consciousness.
Chen Mobai checked the records and found that the space in his Purple Mansion Sea of Consciousness was now comparable to that of cultivators at the fourth or fifth level of Foundation Establishment.
That is to say, at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, by refining the entire Bimu Spirit Heart to open his Purple Mansion, he could elevate his spiritual consciousness to the level of mid-Foundation Establishment.
However, at this point, it was only the expansion of the Purple Mansion container; his spiritual consciousness had not yet reached its limit.
But soon, Chen Mobai plucked a fruit from the Biyu Wutong tree that symbolized his spiritual consciousness and planted it on the other side of the Purple Mansion.
Droplets of Qingmu Bamboo Spirit Dew fell, and a tender bud slowly sprouted.
Once this Qingtong sapling grew, he could repeat the process of integrating spirit and body, and his spiritual consciousness would surge.
Wang Xingyu's two batches of Qingmu Bamboo Spirit Dew were thankfully free of pill toxins. He handed them over to Chen Mobai with relief, stating that if he failed again, even proceeding to Foundation Establishment would leave him with a heart demon.
Chen Mobai felt that Wang Xingyu's mentality was not right; the alchemists in the Tianhe Realm were bold enough to declare that any failure in alchemy was the employer's responsibility, and if successful, they would take an additional two or three percent as a furnace-opening fee.
It was also because of this that the alchemists in the Tianhe Realm were bold.
They dared to refine any elixir, and regardless of the amount of pill toxins, as long as it didn't kill, it was considered a successful commission and alchemy achievement.
If Chen Mobai hadn't intervened, Zhuo Ming and the two disciples from the Refining Department would have sold the experimental spirit wines in the store.
It took some convincing, glaring, and scolding before Zhuo Ming reluctantly agreed to feed the spirit wines to the spirit rats that Liu Wenbo had purchased from the Spirit Beast Department.
After this incident, Chen Mobai established a rule.
All new spirit wines had to be fed to spirit rats for over a year to ensure there were no side effects before they could be sold in his Shenmu City shop.
Although Zhuo Ming and Liu Wenbo didn't understand, in the Tianhe Realm, the master's word was law, so they had to comply.
After dealing with this matter, Chen Mobai was preoccupied with the matter of the Kongming Stone vein, but it was still a top-secret issue within the Shenmu Sect, so he could only visit Yan Jinye.
Yan Jinye indeed knew some inside information; after all, she was the discoverer of the Guhun Ridge and a direct descendant of the Ancestor Zhou lineage, so many things were not hidden from her.
"The Kongming Stone vein in Guhun Ridge may not be as good as the one in the Five Elements Sect, but it far exceeds the one in Hanshan Peak. It should be a medium-small vein, and Ancestor Zhou even made a trip there himself."
After hearing this, Chen Mobai became even more curious.
"Is the Kongming Stone vein in Guhun Ridge being mined now?"
"I'm not sure about that. Ancestor Zhou is paying close attention to this matter, and the Master of the Rewarding Virtue Hall is personally in charge. However, there are quite a few Foundation Establishment elders in our Shenmu Sect who came from the Five Elements Sect, and I don't know how many spies from the other three lineages there are. If the operation is too large, it can't be concealed at all. It's probably the head of the Spirit Vein Department who is leading a few trusted individuals in small-scale mining."
Hearing this, Chen Mobai nodded slightly.
The fact that they could tell him this showed that within the Shenmu Sect, they truly considered him one of their own.
But it was also understandable, given his clear background.
From Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment, his progress had been under the watchful eyes of the Shenmu Sect, and with his outstanding talent, he was destined to be invincible below the Golden Core stage in the future, so the higher-ups of the sect already saw him as one of the future leaders.
After chatting with Yan Jinye for a while and learning the information he wanted, Chen Mobai bid farewell and left.
After mastering the Divine Command Slash, he no longer had short-term cultivation goals.
Now, aside from the routine practice of spells and sword techniques, he was using spirit stones to advance the progress of his Pure Yang body.
Sometimes, he really thought about just taking the three treasures of Foundation Establishment and initiating the Pure Yang Scripture to establish his foundation.
He wasn't sure if he had the opportunity to hear the Dao for Foundation Establishment.
Just as Chen Mobai was bored enough to start comparing the Wanbao Chart with the sealed Qi-Containing Orbs he had seen, Hua Zijing finally sent a message.
***
The big shots of the Immortal Gate had arrived.
This also meant that this year's Red City Cave Heaven University Alliance Exchange was finally beginning.
"You look quite good in this outfit."
In the three-story western-style building of the Student Council, in the president's office on the third floor, Chen Mobai, with Hua Zijing's help, donned the red and black robe hastily woven by the Refining Department.
As he often spent time in the Tianhe Realm, Chen Mobai usually dressed in ancient style, and his black hair had long been grown out.
Paired with this black robe with red patterns and wide sleeves, he resembled an antagonist from a historical drama, his entire presence a blend of elegance and solemnity. These two distinct qualities perfectly merged on him, making Hua Zijing, who was used to the robust and imposing Zuo Qiushi, brighten up at the sight.
Dressed in formal attire, he looked somewhat handsome!
Proofreader & Editor:Peter Pan