Chapter 38 – Tower of Illusory Heavens, Fourth Layer: Yongquan Realm Demons

Seeing Mu Lin approach, Zong Xiu also gathered around.

“Brother Mu, you’re back. Just now…”

Seeing that he had already guessed something, Mu Lin did not hide it, but said somewhat dejectedly: “Just as you thought, it was Teacher Dongfang Ya who came to find me. She told me to keep a low profile and not provoke trouble on my own.”

Upon hearing this, Zong Xiu immediately nodded in deep agreement: “You were indeed too arrogant just now…”

However, before he could finish, Mu Lin changed his tone and said:

“But Teacher Dongfang Ya also gave me a promise: as long as I don’t actively provoke others, if someone provokes me, I can report it to her.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the look of deep agreement on Zong Xiu’s face instantly vanished without a trace. All that remained on his face now was envy.

“Damn, how are you so lucky!”

“I wish I had someone backing me up too!”

Clearly, just as Mu Lin had hoped, Zong Xiu believed that he had gained Teacher Dongfang Ya’s favor. Because of this, he thought such a promise would remain effective indefinitely.

This was misleading. More importantly, upon closer inspection, there was nothing inappropriate about what Mu Lin had just said—it was indeed Teacher Dongfang Ya’s promise.

Mu Lin had only concealed the fact that he was deliberately setting things up, but this matter could not be openly discussed anyway.

Thus, what Mu Lin had done was entirely reasonable.

“By the way, Brother Zong, you looked upset earlier. Did something happen?”

This was a change of topic. To minimize his own responsibility, Mu Lin would only say something ambiguous, leaving the rest for others to think about and interpret on their own.

This way, if Teacher Dongfang Ya came looking for him, he could simply shrug and claim he knew nothing, blaming it on rumors spreading.

Meanwhile, Mu Lin was scheming about certain matters.

As for Zong Xiu, who had been asked, he sighed and said: “What else could it be? We went to climb the tower earlier.”

“Didn’t make it?”

“We passed the first floor but stopped at the second. Sigh, the trials of the Tower of Illusory Heavens are truly difficult!”

After sighing for a while, Zong Xiu remembered something and regained his energy, smiling as he said to Mu Lin: “Speaking of which, it wasn’t just our team that failed. Ji Xue and Yan Yunyu also went to challenge the tower. Both wanted to be the first to break through the fourth floor, but in the end, they both failed.”

From Zong Xiu’s words, Mu Lin learned quite a bit of information.

First, regarding Ji Xue and Yan Yunyu—these two were considered the top tier in tower climbing. Yet even so, both of them… or rather, both teams, were stuck on the third floor, unable to pass the fourth level.

This also led Mu Lin to form a speculation—the difficulty from the third to the fourth floor likely underwent a qualitative change.

“Could it be that the fourth floor features demonic monsters and Anomalies at the Gushing Spring Realm? That must be it. Only that could stop the two of them.”

Secondly, after failing to climb the tower and unwilling to fall behind, Yan Yunyu had already spread the word that she was prepared to spend Spirit Stones to hire others as temporary teammates.

When Zong Xiu mentioned the number of Spirit Stones Yan Yunyu was willing to offer, Mu Lin’s eyebrows immediately raised.

“Wait, based on the amount of Spirit Stones she’s offering, even if she gets rewards after the Tower Challenge, it still wouldn’t cover her expenses… Oh right, I forgot. For these wealthy clan heirs, Spirit Stones are nothing—face is far more important.”

In his past life, female celebrities had a whole set of tactics for competing on charts: spending money, hiring water armies, and exposing each other’s scandals. Compared to that, Yan Yunyu merely spending money to hire teammates—with the Dao Palace’s support—was already a rather mild approach.

Because Yan Yunyu was offering so much money, Mu Lin was somewhat tempted.

However, he also knew that due to his Spirit Root, he was looked down upon by many, so it was unlikely she would invite him.

“Forget it, no rush. Being too eager isn’t good for business. Let’s wait until the Tower Challenge in seven days. If I perform well, she’ll come to hire me without me having to go to her.”

After chatting with Zong Xiu, Mu Lin left.

Just as he expected, since he hadn’t asked Zong Xiu to keep it a secret, and Zong Xiu believed that spreading the news about his friend being under Teacher Dongfang Ya’s protection would reduce trouble for him, Zong Xiu went ahead and spread the word.

Once this got out, although everyone in the class cursed his luck and envied him, no one dared to provoke him anymore.

Unbeknownst to Mu Lin, the news of Teacher Dongfang Ya taking notice of him had even reached Yan Yunyu’s ears.

“What did you say? Mu Lin has caught Teacher Dongfang Ya’s attention?”

Upon first hearing this, Yan Yunyu was quite surprised. She knew Dongfang Ya’s status, which was precisely why she felt a twinge of envy, even as someone like her.

Faced with Yan Yunyu’s astonishment, her maid Xiao Xue calmly replied, “Yes, from what I’ve gathered, some Disciples have become a bit lax after advancing to the Formal Class. Teacher Dongfang Ya is quite dissatisfied with this trend, and she used Mu Lin’s entry into the class to make a point.”

“After being used, Mu Lin didn’t get angry. Instead, he fully supported Teacher Dongfang Ya in motivating the others. That behavior is likely why she took notice of him.”

Xiao Xue’s analysis was… quite reasonable. Knowing Dongfang Ya’s temperament, Yan Yunyu didn’t doubt it. She just clicked her tongue in mild annoyance. “That guy really got lucky.”

As if ignoring Yan Yunyu’s envy, Xiao Xue calmly added, “Should we raise Mu Lin’s priority and try to win him over?”

Hearing this, Yan Yunyu shook her head almost without hesitation.

“No need. That guy might be a little clever, but in this world, strength is what truly matters. A bit of cleverness isn’t of much use to me!”

…

Mu Lin was unaware of Yan Yunyu’s assessment of him.

However, upon returning to the class, he noticed something peculiar.

Logically, after Yan Yunyu spread the word about hiring skilled Disciples with Spirit Stones, many people should have gathered around her.

Indeed, some did gather around her, but what surprised Mu Lin was that the Disciples surrounding Yan Yunyu were all mid-tier members of the Formal Class.

The truly top talents were all gathered around Ji Xue, hoping to team up with her.

At first, this puzzled Mu Lin, but after thinking it over carefully, he understood the reason.

“This world is far from peaceful; it is instead fraught with peril. As disciples of the Dao Palace, we hold considerable status and enjoy favorable treatment, but ultimately, we are destined for the battlefield!”

“On the battlefield of life-and-death struggles, there is no doubt that the stronger our teammates, the higher our chances of survival.”

“Ji Xue is unquestionably the strongest in the class. Even without teammates, relying solely on her personal strength, she has already broken through the third level—a feat equivalent to Yan Yunyu’s entire team.”

“Thus, by becoming Ji Xue’s teammates, they could climb higher and, in the future, be safer.”

Even if Mu Lin had to choose between the two, his first choice would undoubtedly be the overwhelmingly powerful Ji Xue.

More importantly, while Yan Yunyu is the privileged daughter of a wealthy family with vast resources of Spirit Stones, Ji Xue’s status is no lower, and she certainly does not lack wealth.

‘What Yan Yunyu possesses, Ji Xue also has, but what Ji Xue possesses, Yan Yunyu does not. No wonder the true elites gather around Ji Xue…’

Since this matter had little to do with him, after a brief sigh, Mu Lin set it aside. At this moment, he had more important matters to attend to.

“My Blackwater Profound Serpent’s Cultivation Level will advance to Spirit Awakening today!”

(End of Chapter)