"It can’t be..." Mu Chen swallowed nervously. "Aren’t you supposed to be completely safe inside the Tower of Calamity?"

Elder Mu chuckled slyly. "Completely safe? No Ancient Ruins have ever been completely safe. The Magical Beasts don’t care if you’re a challenger. The moment you threaten what they’re guarding, they *will* eliminate you. So, little guy, for your own sake, you absolutely must not rush into the tower before you reach the Martial King realm. You’re a smart kid; I trust you can tell what’s important."

"I understand!" Mu Chen’s resolve was already firm, so he wasn’t about to get carried away by this minor success. He could already tell how vast the gap was between him and a Fifth-Ring Martial King just from Aiolos’s strength, to say nothing of the powerful Magical Beasts further in the tower, which were even more ferocious than the puppet.

Elder Mu nodded in satisfaction. "Well, I’ve said all that needs to be said. I should get back to slee—I mean, I should get back to managing the Library Tower."

Di Cang quickly interjected, "Elder Mu, we’re on our way to get some roasted meat. Would you like to join us?"

Elder Mu pursed his lips. "At my age, I’m not that interested in food anymore. You youngsters go on ahead."

With that, Elder Mu turned and, with his back hunched, slowly made his way toward the academy’s Library Tower. He moved very slowly, but a keen observer would have noticed that his feet weren’t touching the ground at all; a sliver of empty space separated them from the earth. The old man was actually Walking on Air.

Watching Elder Mu slowly recede into the distance, Di Cang shook his head. "Let’s get going. To be honest, I’m suddenly craving some meat."

Mu Chen smiled faintly. "Then let’s go."

...

After Mu Chen and the others were a good distance away, Elder Mu suddenly straightened his hunched back. His entire aura underwent a world-shattering transformation. He glanced toward their retreating figures and muttered to himself, ’Well, I suppose that counts as passing on Aiolos’s message. The kid is sharp, so he shouldn’t do anything reckless. Finally, I can get some decent sleep~’

After that, Elder Mu hunched over again and slowly ambled toward the Library Tower. It might have been a trick of the eye, but as he moved, his solid form gradually became illusory until it faded away completely, as if he had vanished into thin air.

...

By the time Mu Chen and the others reached the small grove in the north courtyard, all the students had already entered a state of Cultivation. Seeing the huge piles of firewood and the containers of fresh water on the ground, Mu Chen felt a twinge of guilt. They had wasted too much time on the way here.

To his relief, however, the students had already formed three neat circles, with the firewood stacked and ready in the middle. It seemed all the preparatory work was complete. After asking Di Cang and the others to sit to one side, Mu Chen quickly retrieved the long-stored Giant Wild Boar Meat from his ring. He had hunted it in the Demon Beast Forest while returning to the Xuanling Empire. In six months, he had only managed to kill three, a testament to how rare they were.

With a flick of his wrist, a dagger appeared in his hand. But before he could even exert any force, the hilt bent in his grip with a CRACK. Mu Chen shook his head, thinking it was just a poor-quality dagger. But when he reached for the Giant Wild Boar Meat, SPLAT! The chunk he picked up was instantly crushed into a paste.

Staring at his hand, which was now covered in meat paste, Mu Chen was horrified. "What’s going on?"

Mu Chen’s voice drew the attention of Di Cang and the others. When they saw the bent dagger and the pulped meat in Mu Chen’s hand, Wu Changqing chuckled. "Looks like the kid’s run into a little trouble."

"He must have broken through too many realms at once and hasn’t adapted to his new physical strength yet," Wu Kui analyzed from the side.

Di Cang shot the two an exasperated look and called out, "Mu Chen, come here."

Mu Chen walked over, asking in confusion, "Teacher, what’s going on?"

Di Cang smiled. "It’s just because you broke through too many stages of the Martial Artist Realm at once. Your body is far beyond that of a mere Eighth-Ring Martial Master now. You leaped through two Great Realms in a single day, so of course you can’t adapt to your new physical strength." With that, Di Cang flicked his wrist, pulling a red scroll from his ring. He said softly, "This is a scroll for a sealing shackle. It’s a simple method. Use it to temporarily seal your power for now. I’ll find you a proper Power Seal technique later on."

Realization dawned on Mu Chen. He took the scroll from Di Cang, sat down right where he was, and began to read. The method described in the scroll was straightforward: isolate your excess power, then lock it down with a seal. When he needed the power again, he could simply undo the seal. However, judging by the technique, it was clearly not a very good sealing-type Combat Skill.

A minute later, Mu Chen closed the scroll. The sealing process was extremely simple. He performed the few gestures recorded in the scroll, forming a Hand Technique. With a soft cry, a red mark materialized on his chest. Within his consciousness, Mu Chen felt innumerable streams of red energy surge from all over his body toward the mark, quickly forming a small, red vortex over his chest. Encasing the vortex was a shield of red light.

It was simple, but its effect was not particularly potent. Mu Chen could clearly sense that the seal was incredibly fragile, whereas the power it was meant to contain was extraordinarily violent. The instant it was confined, his power began to frantically batter the seal. Under the immense force of the assault, the red shield of light wavered precariously, trembling so violently it seemed it might shatter at any moment.