Chapter 468 - Dark Origin Forest
As Mu Chen's figure appeared before Xia Hou's sight, the sharp black-coloured long spear had already brought about an overbearingly fierce gale as it was thrust forward at lightning speed, smashing head-on against the palm winds from Xia Hou's hand.
Bang!
At the instant of impact, astonishingly rampant gales instantly swept out like a hurricane. Under the impact of the frightening gales, layers of ripples even started to surface in the surrounding space.
As the frightening impact swept outwards, and was just about to smash against Mu Chen, suddenly, lightning arcs started to sparkle on his body as lightning runes started to surface on his chest. At this moment, his skin turned into a faint-black colour, appearing akin to a black-coloured metal, sparkling with incomparably destructive luster.
Bang!
Contrary to expectations, when the shock wave heavily impacted against Mu Chen's body, metallic sounds erupted out as a tremble shook through it. Despite being sent retreating back, not a single trace of injury was present on his body.
Before him, a tremble had similarly shook through Xia Hou's body. Nevertheless, instead of using his body to endure the impact head-on, he stomped his foot, causing exceedingly powerful Spiritual Energy to erupt out. Smashing head-on against the impact, a dull thump rang out as his body fluttered in retreat.
The two of them retreated a dozen metres back, before finally stabilising themselves.
The entire region sunk into a stretch of deathly silence.
The faces of all of the groups were filled with overwhelming shock as they took in the scene before them, while inconceivable feelings flooded their eyes. That Mu Chen, who's cultivation was only at the Heavenly Completion Stage Late Phase, was actually able to contend head-on against that Xia Hou, who's cultivation was of Spiritual Energy Disaster? Furthermore, he didn't even receive any injuries at all?
The faces of Tang Mei'er and Zhou Yuan slowly turned solemn as they looked towards the thin, handsome youth in a completely new light.
Both of them knew how formidable Xia Hou was. With the latter's cultivation at Spiritual Energy Disaster, he could be considered as top-notch, even within the entire Great Spiritual Academy Tournament. If the two of them were to face-off in a one-on-one duel with Xia Hou, they might be able to contend with him head-on for a few moves, but would absolutely not have any chance of victory. Therefore, they were still rather dreadful towards Xia Hou.
As for Mu Chen… with his cultivation being at Heavenly Completion Stage Late Phase, the disparity with Spiritual Energy Disaster was far too big. After observing Luo Li's strength earlier, they had some assumptions that Mu Chen being the Captain was just a pretense of concealing her. However, from the looks of it, this thought of theirs had been completely shaken.
This youth, who appeared to be of an ordinary realm of cultivation, seemed to possess an extremely frightening combat prowess.
"Tsk, tsk. Looks like we've made an error in our judgement. No wonder why that lass Qian'er would be so enraptured. He truly possesses some ability." Pursing her seductive red lips, Tang Mei'er gave a alluring laugh, while shooting a lovely gaze brimming with interest that swept to and fro across Mu Chen's body.
Licking his lips, Zhou Yuan stared towards Mu Chen. At this moment, his gaze had similarly turned somewhat scorching-hot, while his hands could not help clenching his black metal pole. Clearly, this fighting madman had also been triggered and was feeling itchy for a fight.
In the air, Xia Hou shot a dark stare towards Mu Chen, before slowly saying, "That's why you're that rampant. So it turns out that you have some ability."
Hearing that, Mu Chen gave a laugh, before giving a flick of his finger, causing the long spear in his hand to disappear. Raising his head to look towards Xia Hou, he replied with a smile, "I apologise for my poor performance. Compared to Captain Xia Hou, I still have some ways to go."
At this moment, he slightly paused, before continuing with a light laugh, "Now, do you still believe that we don't have those qualifications, Captain Xia Hou?"
Shooting a deep look towards Mu Chen, a smile unexpectedly surfaced on Xia Hou's face as he replied, "With your strength, if Captain Mu Chen doesn't possess the qualifications, perhaps there's isn't anyone here that would."
Although they were in a head-on confrontation only an instant ago, Xia Hou could feel the thorniness Mu Chen presented to him. Although he did not believe that the latter would truly be his match in an all-out battle, there were more important matters to pay attention to than that.
With a smile, Mu Chen cupped his hands. This Xia Hou truly has character, being capable of knowing when to retreat and be patient. Nevertheless, Mu Chen also knew that if he didn't show that level of strength in the earlier confrontation, that Xia Hou might not hesitate one bit to unleash a lethal blow to set himself up as the sacrificial lamb for everyone to see. However, as of now, seeing that Mu Chen's strength had exceeded his expectations, that fellow had instantly restrained the killing intent within his eyes.
Although they were the strongest group within this region, Xia Hou didn't have the confidence to not be taken advantage of by the Myriad Phoenix Spiritual Academy and the Martial Spiritual Academy after going all-out to deal with Mu Chen and his group.
Therefore, Xia Hou had no choice but to temporarily endure patiently awhile.
Nevertheless… the strength of a Spiritual Energy Disaster truly is extremely powerful.
Thinking about this, a slight frown appeared on Mu Chen's forehead. Compared to Mo Xingtian, this Xia Hou's strength seemed to be higher than the former by a notch. Although his current strength was much stronger than when he had crossed hands with Mo Xingtian then, he did not dare to harbor any neglect or contempt in his heart. According to his estimates, if they were to engage in a no-holds barred fight, it would result in a fierce battle that would not be inferior to the one he had with Mo Xingtian.
Mu Chen's gaze slightly dropped down. Nevertheless, although Xia Hou truly was a thorny opponent to deal with, Mu Chen hoped that the latter would not intentionally provoke him. If not… he would not mind letting the Saint Spiritual Academy have one of their groups disappear from this Great Spiritual Academy Tournament.
A chilling glint flashed across Mu Chen's eyes, before waving his hand towards Luo Li, while turning around and walking back to his group. At this moment, Xu Huang and the other two were sending a big thumbs-up towards him, while their faces brimmed with pride. As of now, Mu Chen was truly worthy of being the top student of their Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy. Even a elite figure like Xia Hou was actually forced to the point of having to call a temporary truce.
By their sides, the group from the Desolation Spiritual Academy had faces full of worship and admiration. Although they had seen Mu Chen take action before to defeat two Human Body Disaster experts in an one-on-two fight, they could not help continuously feeling shocked once again upon seeing Mu Chen actually being able to engage in a straight-on confrontation with Xia Hou, who was of Spiritual Energy Disaster.
Mu Chen gave a laugh towards them, before sweeping his gaze round in a circle. At this moment, there was no longer any doubt present in the gazes that shot from the groups hovering in the surrounding skies. On the contrary, presently within their eyes were some shades of worship and admiration. At this moment, all of them had finally looked towards the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy as one of the five Great Academies. After all, from the surface, their group truly appeared to be somewhat on the weak side.
Humm!
As Mu Chen was sweeping his gaze out, suddenly, a gigantic beam of light erupted from the depths of the Dark Origin Forest. Rushing straight through the clouds, a fragrance seemed to radiate from within. This smell caused the minds of countless people to tremble, before casting scorching-hot gazes towards the depths of the forest. Indeed, there's some ancient ruins in there!
Such a fragrance appeared to be caused by precious and rare heavenly treasures.
In the skies, the eyes of seemingly thousands of groups lit up at this moment, while they lasciviously licked their lips in greed, with all of them getting restless.
Upon smelling this mysterious fragrance, Mu Chen could instantly feel signs of some fluctuations seemingly appearing within the Spiritual Energy within his body, causing a shade of astonishment to flash within his eyes. Could it be that there truly are heavenly treasures present within the depths of the Dark Origin Forest?
"Looks like the groups here can no longer endure it anymore," said Lin Zhou in a low voice. As of now, the groups that had converged over here were increasing by the number, reaching a level that Xia Hou and his group could no longer be able to completely suppress them by themselves. Added with the current spectacle, the present situation was about to quickly go out of control.
Hearing those words, Mu Chen nodded his head in agreement. At the very beginning, he believed that the situation here would never be completely under control. As of now, with the news about this place being circulated around, that was even more of an impossibility.
"In a while, all of us should get ready to make a move. However, we must be careful, as I feel that there's something amiss about this place." Shooting a looking at the Dark Origin Forest, Mu Chen gave a slight frown. Whenever he looked at this region, it always gave him an extremely uncomfortable feeling.
Hearing his words, everyone nodded their heads, while starting to quietly revolve and circulate around the Spiritual Energies within their bodies
"The ruins have opened. Let's go! It's first come, first serve for such ownerless items!"
As the fragrance wafting around the region grew thicker and thicker, there were some groups that were finally unable to resist such enticement. As they roared out, in the next instant, a dozen groups rushed forward, seemingly in an instant.
Whoosh!
Very quickly, those groups rushed into the air above the Dark Origin Forest. However, just at the instant when they had rushed into the boundary, cries of shock and astonishment abruptly rang out from them as their figures rapidly descended. From the looks of it, it appeared as if the region was a flight-restricted area.
Puff!
Hundreds of figures disappeared as they dropped into the Dark Origin Forest.
Upon seeing this, everyone in the surroundings slightly gawked. From the looks of it, one wasn't able to fly high in the air within that region.
"Since you can't fly high in there, let's rush straight in!"
Very quickly, voices rang out from the surrounding groups once again, before group after group howled out. Descending onto the ground, they shot straight in towards the darkness forest.
"Should we make our move?" asked Xu Huang and the rest with impatience.
In response, wrinkles formed on Mu Chen's forehead, appearing as if he had felt something amiss.
"It's too quiet." Suddenly, Luo Li spoke out.
This instantly caused a shock of terror within Mu Chen's heart. That's right, this forest is too quiet! When those hundred -plus people had descended into there, there should be some commotion at the very least! Why is there not a single sound yet? Such a feeling was akin to them being devoured at the very instant they had landed in the forest.
"Look's like this place is extremely fishy," said Mu Chen with a solemn expression on his face.
Noticing Mu Chen's expression and response, the faces of Xu Huang and the rest slightly changed as they asked, "So, what now? Are we still going in to search for the ancient ruins?"
"It wasn't easy to find the ruins. We can't just give up so easily like that," replied Mu Chen as he shook his head. Looking towards those groups that were rushing into the Dark Origin Forest akin to a swarm of locusts, he spoke out in a soft voice, "Let's wait awhile and let these fellows feel out the way… look at them. There's still no movement yet from Xia Hou, Tang Mei'er and Zhou Yuan."
Shooting their sights over, indeed, Xu Huang and the rest noticed that there wasn't a single inch of movement from those three groups. Also, there were quite a few groups remaining in the surroundings, with all of their cultivation realms being quite high. Furthermore, all of them had maintained their calmness and rationale.
Crossing his fingers, Mu Chen looked towards the Dark Origin Forest, muttering, "I really want to see exactly what strange and weird things there are in this goddamn place…"
As Mu Chen and his group quietly waited on, they were unable to discover numerous figures concealed in the shadows within the dense woods on a mountain peak behind them. At this moment, all of their gazes were similarly focused towards the Dark Origin Forest, before unsympathetic and sinister laughter softly rang out.
"Looks like we didn't find the wrong place. This should be the Poison Woods. In the time of the Ancient Antiquity, this Shattered Continent was an Overlord-level power, with the Wood Divine Palace being one of the factions present there…"