Chapter 210: Chapter 205: A Reunion Three Years Later

At the supervising mentor’s call, Mu Chen and his team were the first to step onto the spacious, square arena. Compared to the arenas in the main square, this one was more exquisitely crafted, far more durable, and offered a much larger area for combat.

At the same time, Xue Wen’s team also walked up. Seeing both sides in position, the supervising mentor announced, "Both teams are ready. Please choose the match format: individual battles or a team battle."

Mu Chen glanced at Xue Wen. "We’re fine with either. You can choose."

Xue Wen nodded with a grim expression. "We choose individual battles. If I lose, there’s no need for the rest of the matches."

Xue Wen knew that if Mu Chen could defeat an Eighth-Ring Martial Master right after entering the academy, then he, a mere Fourth-Ring Martial Master, stood no chance. However, he couldn’t stomach the thought of giving up without a fight. He decided to take the field himself; that way, even if he got injured, he would be the only one.

"Alright," Mu Chen said.

With that, Mu Chen walked directly onto the arena. Since the opposing captain had stepped forward, it was only natural for Mu Chen to face him as a captain himself.

"The match begins."

Following the supervising mentor’s low shout, Mu Chen moved. He was unbelievably fast, closing the distance to Xue Wen in the blink of an eye.

’So fast!’

Xue Wen had no time to react before a hand pressed against his chest. A gentle wave of Primordial Power immediately surged from it. The next moment, he felt his body go light, and he was sent flying off the arena, landing outside with a THUD.

The supervising mentor was, after all, not a student monitor; he had seen far more of the world. He remained exceptionally calm as he announced, "Arena Three, first match: Mu Chen’s team is victorious."

The supervising mentor had heard Xue Wen’s earlier stipulation clearly. As the witness, he knew the academy’s competition rules allowed for agreements between the two parties, which became valid once he witnessed them. Thus, he immediately declared Mu Chen’s team the winner.

The match had lasted less than three seconds. The students at the other arenas all shot strange looks toward Arena Three, likely assuming Xue Wen had simply forfeited.

With the match over, Mu Chen and his teammates felt little joy. Their mission and goal were not merely to achieve some rank in the Outer Circle. What they aimed to do was let the entire Holy Hall know that their Demon Castle would supplant them and become the new overlord of the Imperial Academy.

The subsequent matches were no different from the preliminaries, so Mu Chen didn’t pay them much mind. Half an hour later, all five matches at Arena Three had concluded. Qiu He’s match was also incredibly short; the difference in their levels was so stark that there was no room for any surprises.

"Very good. The round of ten advancing to five at Arena Three is complete. Next is the draw for the remaining pairings. There are five lots in this box, one of which is a bye. Just like in the preliminaries, the team that draws the bye will advance directly to the Mid Stage finals. They will face the last remaining team, and the victor will proceed to the grand finals." After the last match, the supervising mentor had already brought out the lottery box.

"Little Tiger, you go draw the lot again. Let’s see if you can get us another bye," Mu Chen said, clapping him on the shoulder.

Little Tiger grinned sheepishly. "Okay! I love drawing lots."

With that, Little Tiger and the other four captains went up to the mentor. Mu Chen didn’t know how they decided the order, but he saw all five of them put their hands into the lottery box at the same time. When they pulled out their lots, an overjoyed expression was already written all over Little Tiger’s face.

Mo Qing’s voice was gentle. "It seems Little Tiger has shown off his luck once again."

Ye Shuangshuang was also delighted. "Simple-hearted people are always blessed by the heavens."

Mu Chen didn’t speak, just smiled faintly.

"Arena Three: Mu Chen’s team draws the bye. The other teams will pair up according to their lots," the supervising mentor announced in a flat tone.

While Mu Chen and the others were still in their Mid Stage matches, the Holy Hall Students had already arrived at the Challenger’s Arena, the venue for the finals. Of course, they were joined by the five thousand Outer Circle Students who had been eliminated in the preliminaries.

He Long had reluctantly followed the crowd to the massive Refined Iron Arena. If it weren’t for Mu Bingling, he never would have been so well-behaved as to show up here.

As a Holy Hall Student, Mu Bingling naturally couldn’t slip away to the coliseum to watch Mu Chen’s match. Resigned, she could only stand bored amidst the crowd, lost in a daze.

He Long was just about to go strike up a conversation when a woman in blue walked over. He Long recognized her; it was the beautiful woman who had escorted him here, Yan Ruoshui. Seeing someone approach, and considering it was his first day in the Xuanling Empire, He Long knew to restrain himself when necessary.

"Little Sister Bingling, it’s been a month. It seems your Martial Artist Realm has improved quite a bit again."

Mu Bingling looked toward the voice. Seeing it was Yan Ruoshui, the corner of her mouth twitched in what passed for a smile. "Aren’t you the same, Mentor Ruoshui?"

A month ago, Mu Bingling had just broken through to become a One-Ring Martial Spirit. After refining the Ice Soul Essence Pill Mu Chen had given her, her cultivation speed had indeed increased by about thirty percent. And that wasn’t all. That pill called the Gathering Essence Pill was simply heaven-defying. Although absorbing it caused a massive influx of Primordial Qi, making it abundant but impure, she had her own methods for refining it. After a month of cultivation, her Martial Artist Realm had actually broken through to the peak of a Second-Ring Martial Spirit, just a hair’s breadth away from the Third Ring.

Hearing Mu Bingling’s words, Yan Ruoshui gave a wry smile. "Don’t call me Mentor. I’ve been like a big sister to you for three years. Besides, my Cultivation Talent is far worse than yours. I’m already twenty-three this year, yet I can’t even compare to a seventeen-year-old boy."

Three years ago, when she went to Luofeng City, she was already a Third-Ring Martial Spirit. Three years had passed, and her progress in the Martial Artist Realm had slowed considerably. Although she had now broken through to the Martial King Realm, it was a recent breakthrough. She was currently only at the Early Stage of a First-Ring Martial King.

"A seventeen-year-old boy?" Mu Bingling turned her head, a hint of confusion in her eyes.

Yan Ruoshui smiled wryly. "The Crown Prince of the Celestial Eagle Empire, the one I went to receive. He’s only seventeen, but he’s already a Third-Ring Martial King. And they had me, a mere First-Ring Martial King, escort him all this way. It’s almost a joke."

"Which one is the Crown Prince of the Celestial Eagle Empire?" The question in Mu Bingling’s eyes deepened. ’Is there someone like that in our academy?’

The corner of Yan Ruoshui’s mouth twitched. "Weren’t you in the square just now?"

Mu Bingling nodded. "I was." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Then you didn’t hear the conversation between Zhun Cang and He Long? You didn’t see how He Long got in?"

"Mm... I don’t think I heard it, and I wasn’t paying attention to how he got in."

"..."

Yan Ruoshui was speechless. She remembered Mu Bingling being clever and sharp. ’Why does she seem so different today?’

"Were you spacing out just now?"

Mu Bingling shook her head. "No. I was just looking at Mu Chen."

"Mu Chen?" Yan Ruoshui was taken aback. Although she was now a mentor at the Holy Hall, just a year ago, she had been a student herself, a classmate of Mu Bingling’s. Because she had been the one to recruit Mu Bingling, she was also the one who guided her through the academy as a freshman. Their relationship was somewhere between mentor and friend. Yan Ruoshui was eight years older than Mu Bingling, so she often comforted her like a big sister whenever she was feeling down.

Yan Ruoshui had always been curious about this boy who completely occupied Mu Bingling’s heart. Although she had met the boy named Mu Chen twice in Luofeng City, she had never gotten to know him. More than that, what truly astonished her was Mu Bingling’s attachment to him—an attachment so deep she still couldn’t comprehend it.

"Yes, Big Sister Ruoshui. It’s the Mu Chen I’ve told you about so many times. He’s back..." Mu Bingling’s voice was filled with a deep sense of happiness.

"’He’s back...’ What does that mean?" Yan Ruoshui’s mind went blank. ’What in the world happened during the two months she was away from the academy?’

Yan Ruoshui knew about the three-year pact, of course. But she also knew that Mu Chen would never escape the label of "trash" in this lifetime. ’A person who can’t cultivate. A person with a crippled body. A person who is blind. He was gone for three years, and now he’s back? And he even came to the Imperial Academy? What is going on?’ A series of huge, lingering question marks surfaced in her mind.

Just then, a group of over six hundred people approached from the road in the distance. Every one of them wore the uniform of the Outer Circle Students, but at the very front walked a single person dressed differently from the rest. He wore robes as white as snow, and his long blue hair, which reached his waist, swayed gently in the wind. Strapped horizontally across his back was a long, black case, one zhang long and three chi wide. At first glance, it looked like a coffin, but upon closer inspection, one could see that the abyss-black "coffin" was, in fact, a case.

As the group drew closer, Yan Ruoshui finally got a clear look at the young man. He wasn’t conventionally handsome, but he was exceptionally refined, with skin so fair that even Yan Ruoshui felt envious. A confident smile always hung on his lips, and his tall, straight posture made him stand out in the crowd. What was most surprising were his constantly closed eyes. The shape of his eyes was long and elegant; if they were to open, they would surely be like a pair of stars.

Most importantly, Yan Ruoshui suddenly felt that this person was very familiar, as if she had met him somewhere before...

Just as Yan Ruoshui was lost in thought, a handsome but arrogant-looking man walked up from behind her. Seeing the puzzled look on her face as she stared at the Outer Circle Students ahead, the man asked, "Ruoshui, what are you looking at?"

At his words, Yan Ruoshui’s expression immediately turned to one of resignation. She turned her head and said, "Tang Hao, do you feel like that young man looks familiar, as if we’ve seen him somewhere before?"

When Tang Hao heard Yan Ruoshui actually say his name, he was secretly delighted. Following her gaze, the image of Mu Chen imprinted itself on his mind. For a moment, he too seemed to recall a faint impression. After pondering for a moment, Tang Hao shook his head. "He feels familiar, but I can’t place him. It might just be our imagination."

’Is it just my imagination?’ Yan Ruoshui thought, unwilling to let it go. She glanced at Mu Chen again, only to suddenly see him nod at her, as if in greeting.

"No! We have met before!" Yan Ruoshui’s expression froze as she seemed to finally remember something...