Chapter 126 – The Golden Generation: Jade Lake Academy's Prodigies

Upon hearing Mu Lin’s inquiry, Yan Yunyu’s expression shifted from astonishment back to resentment, while Chu Lingluo spoke with a hint of pride: “It’s not that, Brother Mu Lin. Haven’t you always liked Ji Xue? I just went to find Ji Xue and invited her to join our team!”

As she said this, Yan Yunyu wore an expression that practically begged for praise.

These words made Mu Lin understand the reason for Yan Yunyu’s darkened expression, and he couldn’t help but defend his reputation.

“I haven’t always liked her…”

However, before Mu Lin could finish speaking, Chu Lingluo nodded knowingly and said, “I understand, Brother Mu Lin. You invited Ji Xue not because you like her, but to challenge the Tower of Illusory Heavens.”

Though she said this, it was clear she didn’t believe it herself.

Chu Lingluo had never forgotten that the ‘reason’ for Mu Lin’s annoyance with her was that she had pushed Ji Xue out of the team. To mend the rift between them, she took the initiative and invited Ji Xue over.

Realizing this, Mu Lin found himself at a loss for how to refuse.

He couldn’t just bluntly say, “It was all a lie before. It was your mother who made us separate, so I had no choice but to resort to this.”

In the end, unable to explain himself, Mu Lin simply gave up trying.

‘Forget it. If Ji Xue is coming, then so be it. In any case, her joining the team will strengthen our overall power, allowing us to achieve a better ranking.’

Despite his greatly enhanced strength, Mu Lin did not underestimate the heroes of the world.

And soon, Mu Lin realized that this mindset was correct.

He was strong, stronger than ninety-nine percent of the people in this world. However, the remaining one percent of prodigies—whether due to talent or family background—were not the least bit inferior to him, and some even surpassed him.

—Chu Lingluo had come to share the good news of Ji Xue joining the team with Mu Lin, while Yan Yunyu had come for serious business.

“Brother Mu, the Southern Eastern Region Joint Examination is in thirteen days. During this time, besides gathering resources, I’ve also collected some information about our competitors.”

Yan Yunyu placed even greater importance on the ranking in the Southern Eastern Region Joint Examination than Mu Lin did, so even without his instructions, she had done a lot of preparation.

However, after gathering a large amount of information, she was not pleased but rather looked grim.

“Our luck is quite bad. This year, the Jade Lake Dao Academy has many prodigies—it’s practically a golden age. We must be careful, or we might not even secure fifth place.”

As she spoke, she began explaining the various prodigies of the Jade Lake Dao Academy to Mu Lin.

“The current fifth-ranked is named Yuan Ce. He possesses a Pure Yang Body, which makes him exceptionally suited for cultivating Yang-based cultivation methods. The cultivation method he practices is called the Yuan Chen Giant Spirit Sutra. Although his current cultivation level is only at the mid-stage of Gushing Spring, his combat power is extremely formidable, and he fears no external evils. He once single-handedly challenged the fifth floor of the Tower of Illusory Heavens. Young Master Mu, the curses and paper figures you specialize in hold no advantage against him.”

Starting off on such an unfavorable note cast a shadow over Yan Yunyu’s heart, and Mu Lin narrowed his eyes.

But he was not afraid. He simply asked calmly, “A Pure Yang Body, and he’s only ranked fifth? Are the ones ahead even stronger?”

“Yes.”

After nodding, Yan Yunyu began speaking about the fourth-ranked prodigy of the Jade Lake Dao Academy.

“The fourth-ranked cultivator is named Yan Zhanpeng.”

“Yan?”

Hearing this, Mu Lin glanced at Yan Yunyu.

“A relative of yours?”

Yan Yunyu: “He’s my cousin, with a first-grade Spirit Root, and a metal Spirit Root at that. Among the three most likely candidates to be designated as the legitimate heir in our Yan Family’s current generation, he is one of them. Because he is highly valued and his maternal clan is also powerful, he can mobilize more resources than I can. According to the information I’ve gathered, with his excellent talent and abundant resources, he has already cultivated to the Spirit Pool Realm.”

At this point, after hesitating for a moment, Yan Yunyu still revealed some of the Yan Family’s secrets.

“My Yan Family is not skilled in combat, but if anyone underestimates us because of that, they will surely suffer a devastating defeat… Through wealth and fortune, the disciples of the Yan Family can use certain rituals and methods to influence an enemy’s luck, causing them to frequently encounter mishaps in battle or face unexpected adversaries.”

Upon hearing this, Mu Lin initially felt some apprehension, but soon, he no longer cared.

Transcendence Trait, ever heard of it?

The elevation of his status caused Mu Lin’s resistance to skyrocket, rendering most methods ineffective against him. Curses were like this, the erosion of the Land of Sky Burial was like this, and influencing fortune through wealth was also the same.

Thinking of this, Mu Lin was taken aback.

“Speaking of which, the Transcendence Trait is quite powerful… Well, that makes sense. A trait derived from a Heaven-Rank Technique, and one that originated from an invincible will—it would be strange if it weren’t strong.”

Mu Lin was unafraid, and through observation, Yan Yunyu also noticed that Mu Lin was not frightened by this. At this, her heart tightened, yet she also breathed a sigh of relief.

Soon, she continued: “There’s another point. By offering Spirit Stones as sacrifices, my Yan Family can drastically increase the power of our spells, up to tenfold at most.”

“Currently, my cousin is only ranked fourth because this secret technique consumes too much. Under normal circumstances, even as a candidate for the legitimate heir, he cannot afford to use it recklessly. Therefore, he will not squander it extravagantly. However, the Southern Eastern Region Joint Examination is a special occasion. At critical moments, he will inevitably use this secret technique.”

“…”

Hearing this, Mu Lin fell silent. Such an all-or-nothing gamble was indeed something he could not ignore.

But soon, Mu Lin stopped thinking about him, because the people behind him were even stronger.

“The third place is Chu Hongxuan.”

When she spoke, Yan Yunyu also glanced at Chu Lingluo.

Because of this, without her saying more, Mu Lin knew that this person was from Chu Lingluo’s own family.

And Chu Lingluo’s subsequent response confirmed Mu Lin’s thoughts.

“Huh? Cousin Hongxuan? Is he that impressive?”

“…”

Realizing that she knew nothing about her family’s situation, Mu Lin turned his gaze to Yan Yunyu.

The latter smiled back at him.

“Brother Mu, you know about the Chu Family’s Azure Emperor Scripture, right?”

“I know a little. I know that those who cultivate this technique become monarchs of plants and trees, but I don’t know the specifics.”

“Brother Mu, if you want to know, I can tell you.”

After saying this, Chu Lingluo proudly glared at Mu Lin, then proceeded to explain the details of her cultivation method to him.

From her words, Mu Lin learned that the Chu Family’s Heaven-Man Sensing · Azure Emperor Scripture, besides making its cultivators monarchs of plants capable of manipulating vegetation, its most mystical ability is to form a contract with a plant, making it their life-bound spiritual plant.

After the contract is established, those who cultivate the Azure Emperor Scripture can gain immense benefits from their life-bound spiritual plant, such as lifespan, insights, and some special abilities.

Such an ability may seem unremarkable at first glance.

However, after careful consideration, Mu Lin realized that such an ability was incredibly powerful.

After all, while contracting with ordinary spiritual plants might not be of much use, what if the Chu Family contracted with divine trees like the Bodhi Tree, the Enlightenment Tea Tree, the Tree of Life, or the Fusang Tree?

“The Fusang Tree inherently possesses Solar Divine Flames, and the Enlightenment Tea Tree naturally carries an enlightenment buff…”

“Although the ability is powerful, this talent also has its limitations. Heavenly Grade spiritual herbs and trees are inherently rare to begin with. According to Chu Lingluo, they also need to find seedlings and contract with them from a young age, making it even harder to locate.”

“After finding them, they must be nurtured and grown, which consumes an astronomical amount of resources… This is yet another shortcut that only one person in a family can take every hundred years or so.”

While Mu Lin was marveling at this, Yan Yunyu shared the information she had gathered.

“Chu Hongxuan contracted with a Giant Sandalwood Tree seedling. Although it is not of Heaven Grade, it is still extraordinary. It is said that a fully grown Giant Sandalwood Tree can reach a height of ten thousand meters, resembling a mountain, with a canopy capable of covering an entire city.”

“By contracting with such a colossal tree, Chu Hongxuan possesses a hundred times the mana of an ordinary person. This is also why, despite being only at the mid-stage of the Gushing Spring realm, he ranks third in the Jade Lake Dao Academy.”

Bigger is stronger, more is better. With a hundred times the mana, Chu Hongxuan can unleash spells with reckless abandon, bombarding his enemies without restraint. With such a trump card, his third-place ranking is well-deserved.

While Mu Lin was reflecting on this, Chu Lingluo did not continue discussing the second-ranked student in the Jade Lake Dao Academy. This wasn’t because she wanted to keep it a mystery, but because she hadn’t gathered specific information. She only knew that the second-ranked students were a pair of twins.

Moreover, their team consisted solely of that pair of twins, with no other members.

Upon hearing this, Mu Lin did not feel relieved. Being able to overpower Chu Hongxuan, Yan Zhanpeng, Yuan Ce, and their teams to secure the second place in the Jade Lake Dao Academy meant that the twins were undoubtedly extremely powerful.

Soon after, Yan Yunyu delivered another piece of bad news to Mu Lin.

“Aside from the leaders, because the Jade Lake Dao Academy gathers numerous prodigies, the team members in those squads are also at the Gushing Spring realm, and their strength is remarkable.”

“This is somewhat troublesome…”

Chu Hongxuan, Yan Zhanpeng, and Yuan Ce were not only strong individually, but their teams were also formidable, which posed a significant challenge.

Even more troubling was the fact that the mysterious twins could overpower such powerful teams with sheer force.

Seeing Mu Lin frowning in thought, Yan Yunyu suggested, “Brother Mu, do you need me to help find some targeted Magical Artifacts?”

“No need. Convert all our resources into Moonlight Jade Dew and Dao-Containing Stones. As for those from the Jade Lake Dao Academy, leave them to me.”

“Aside from the mysterious twins… they are merely somewhat troublesome for me, not unbeatable.”

The enemies were strong, but he was not weak either. Thus, Mu Lin did not lose confidence.

While Mu Lin was reassuring Yan Yunyu and boosting her confidence, the Jade Lake Dao Academy and the Longyou Dao Academy were also discussing Mu Lin’s situation.

Among them, the Longyou Dao Palace and the Heshang Dao Palace regarded Mu Lin as their most critical adversary.

The Longyou Dao Palace also had a training ground. Unlike the Anping Dao Palace, the Longyou Dao Palace’s training ground was built on a lake, and many of its Qi Refiners directly dove into the water to cultivate.

While ordinary cultivators were cultivating, the instructor of the Youlong Dao Palace gathered the prodigies of the class together.

“The Proud Sky Squad of the Anping Dao Palace has jumped to forty-third place. Have you all heard about this?”

“I know… However, with a name like ‘Proud Sky,’ the captain of the Anping Dao Palace is somewhat arrogant.”

(End of Chapter)