Chapter 188 – Spiritual Energy Fusion

A dark clear night enshrouded the massive Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy as a faint moonlight poured down from above. At this moment, the entire world seemed to be covered with a hint of silver color.

However, within the bustling and populated Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, it was still shining brightly even though it was late in the night. In a few training grounds, it was still possible to see people cultivating endlessly.

In the freshmen area, Mu Chen was sitting cross-legged in his room, simply letting the dazzling moonlight shine through his window and illuminate his body. At this moment, his eyebrow twitched slightly while his eyes flashed.

The conversation that he had during the day with Li Xuantong had finally made him serious. It was evident that Li Xuantong was planning to intervene with his relationship with Luo Li. Moreover, it was clear that he did not have much goodwill towards Mu Chen.

There was no doubt that Li Xuantong was extremely powerful. After all, he was a powerhouse ranked second on the Heavenly Ranking even among all the geniuses within the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy. Nobody would dare underestimate him.

If he was actually going to intervene in this matter, it might become troublesome for Mu Chen.

Thus, in order to deal with this problem, Mu Chen did not have any choice but to become stronger. Only then, he would not be afraid of any possible actions that Li Xuantong would take against him.

But for the current Mu Chen, Li Xuantong was clearly extremely difficult to deal with. Although they have not fought against each other, Mu Chen had already predicted that Li Xuantong had far surpassed the Heavenly Fusion Stage.

The gap between him and Li Xuantong was too large. It wouldn’t be easy for him to cover the gaps with his various techniques. Aside from relying on the Nine Netherbird’s power like he did against Liu Jingshan, there was no way for him to deal with Li Xuantong. However, if he was to do that, he believed that he wouldn’t have won with his own strength. After all, the battle with Liu Jingshan was about life and death. As for the battle against Li Xuantong, it hadn’t reached the same extent of resolve yet.

Furthermore, Mu Chen did not like showing off with the Nine Netherbird’s power. After all, this power did not truly belong to him.

“In order to be able to compete against Li Xuantong, I probably will have to breakthrough to the Heavenly Fusion Stage...”

Mu Chen muttered to himself. The gap between a Spirit Stage and a Heavenly Fusion Stage was far too enormous. Even he could only compete against a Heavenly Fusion Stage Middle Phase after exhausting all his techniques. Once he confronts a Heavenly Fusion Stage Late Phase, he would be at a disadvantage. Not to mention an entity like Li Xuantong, who had far surpassed the Heavenly Fusion Stage.

Therefore, if Mu Chen wanted to reduce the gap between the two of them, he would have to break past the Spirit Stage and advance to the Heavenly Fusion Stage during these two months!

Mu Chen nodded his head gently. It seems that he couldn’t relax even after he had defeated Yang Hong. There are countless geniuses within the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy. If he did not continue to work hard and constantly push himself to become stronger, perhaps next time he would be the one that loses.

“Just another two days and we will be able to enter the “Spiritual Art Hall”. I must try my best to obtain a Deity Tier Spiritual Art. This way, I will have another trump card up my sleeves.” Mu Chen mumbled.

Deity Tier Spiritual Art. These words were extremely tempting to anyone. Even Mu Chen could not help but become moved upon thinking about it. After all, he had never seen a Spiritual Art at that level before. However, it was clearly synonymous with the meaning of powerful.

In the Spiritual Art Hall, there are countless Deity Tier Spiritual Arts for sale. However, the high prices stopped Mu Chen from obtaining them. Therefore, it was an excellent chance for him to enter the Spiritual Art Hall this time.

Although he knew that the chances of obtaining a Deity Tier Spiritual Art was extremely low, he still had to try no matter what.

“Power...Power...”

Mu Chen shook his head while he sighed unhappily. His leisurely days had been destroyed by Li Xuantong. Although he did not know what Li Xuantong wanted two months later, it was apparent that he would have to be well prepared.

Mu Chen curled his lips slightly and slowly closed his eyes. His consciousness sunk down into his aura sea. On top of the mandala flower, the Nine Netherbird was lying down lazily as a black flame continued to burn endlessly on its body.

“Are there any methods to make me stronger?” Mu Chen scratched his head as he asked the Nine Netherbird.

“Aren’t you strong enough now? You were able to defeat a Heavenly Fusion Stage Middle Phase opponent with your Spirit Stage Late Phase strength.” The Nine Netherbird extended its wings lazily. Every single one of its actions revealed a hint of elegance, causing Mu Chen to seriously doubt its gender.

“It isn’t easy to deal with Li Xuantong.” Mu Chen smiled and immediately responded. “Moreover, that person has been in the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy for a long time. He probably has millions of Spiritual Values. Therefore, if we manage to obtain it, perhaps we would be able to buy the Northern Sea Dragon’s Blood Essence...”

The Nine Netherbird’s eyes immediately brightened up upon hearing these words. The black flames on its body suddenly became more intense.

“So, can you help me think of a way to improve my strength? Once I become stronger, the speed of obtaining Spiritual Values would also accelerate. This way, you will be able to obtain the Northern Sea Dragon’s Blood Essence sooner.” Mu Chen smiled. He had completely grasped the weak point of the Nine Netherbird.

“That Li Xuantong is considerably stronger than you. He isn’t someone that can be compared with Yang Hong. If you are going to confront him right now, you will absolutely get slaughtered.” The Nine Netherbird knew that Mu Chen was using its weakness to provoke it. Thus, it glared at him as it spoke.

“Don’t I have two months?” Mu Chen smiled. Regarding the difference in strength, Mu Chen did not feel frustrated about it. After all, Li Xuantong was indeed quite talented and had cultivated in the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy for countless years. If he didn’t have such strength, he would have been looked down upon by others.

The Nine Netherbird stared at Mu Chen as it spoke: “What you are thinking is correct. Right now, the most urgent matter is for you to quickly breakthrough to the Heavenly Fusion Stage. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to compete against Li Xuantong.”

Mu Chen nodded his head slightly. He also understood this. If he could not advance to the Heavenly Fusion Stage, he was not qualified to fight against Li Xuantong. Techniques were only a method of closing the gap between him and his opponents. But once the gap was too big, no matter how powerful his techniques were, it was completely useless in the face of absolute strength.

Mu Chen sighed. It looks like that he must attempt to breakthrough to the Heavenly Fusion Stage...

“Wait.” Just when Mu Chen was about to exit his aura sea, the Nine Netherbird suddenly spoke.

“Eh?” Mu Chen stared at it in confusion.

“It’s true that you must breakthrough to the Heavenly Fusion Stage. However, I can provide a bit of help to strengthen you as well.” The Nine Netherbird responded. Currently, it had formed a Bloodline Bond with Mu Chen. If Mu Chen was too weak and was killed by someone, it, too, would end up dead. Therefore, the Nine Netherbird would not hide any means of improving Mu Chen’s strength.

“What help are you talking about?” Mu Chen was stunned and his face was instantly filled with delight as he asked.

“Spiritual Energy Fusion.” The Nine Netherbird replied faintly.

“Spiritual Energy Fusion?” Mu Chen repeated the phrase spoken by the Nine Netherbird and was completely dumbfounded. It was evident that he had never heard of the term “Spiritual Energy Fusion” before.

“Spiritual Energy Fusion is something that could only be performed by someone with a Bloodline Bond. It is actually quite simple. As long as we fuse our Spiritual Energy, you will be able to obtain a special power within your Spiritual Energy.”

The Nine Netherbird extended its wing. On top of its wings, a black flame was burning: “What do you think about my black flame?”

“It’s truly powerful.”

Mu Chen nodded honestly. The Nine Netherbird’s black flame was even able to incinerate Spiritual Energy. Moreover, since he was able to utilize the black flame when he had borrowed the Nine Netherbird’s power, he understood the effects of the black flames extremely well.

“This is called the Nine Nether Flame. It is an innate ability of the Nine Netherbird race and can ignite Spiritual Energy and all types of energy. This flame is extremely powerful. Moreover, it would even accompany us through our evolution and evolve as well. Once I evolve into a Divine Beast, this Nine Nether Flame will evolve into the Nine Netherworld Flame. Furthermore, if I become even stronger and completely awaken the ancient Undying Bird’s blood within my body, the flame will become unperishable unless I die.” A hint of pride could be heard within the Nine Netherbird’s voice as it explained. It was evident that this Nine Nether Flame was something that the Nine Netherbird’s race was extremely proud of.

Mu Chen nodded his head as he praised it deep down inside. Within this world, there are indeed many wonders. Although the Spiritual Beasts are quite different than humans, they, too, possess special abilities that humans would truly hope to obtain.

“If you are able to complete the Spiritual Energy Fusion, your Spiritual Energy will also possess the abilities of the Nine Nether Flame. From that moment onwards, the Spiritual Energy that you’ve cultivated will become more overbearing than anybody else’s Spiritual Energy. It can be considered as a qualitative improvement of your Spiritual Energy.”

“Oh?”

Mu Chen’s eyes lit up. His Spiritual Energy will obtain the incinerating abilities of the Nine Nether Flame? Although Mu Chen was able to utilize a tiny amount of the Nine Nether Flame when he was borrowing the strength of the Nine Netherbird, the Nine Nether Flame would vanish once he had stopped borrowing from the Nine Netherbird. It would not remain within his own Spiritual Energy.

Hence, he had become surprised once he heard that the Spiritual Energy Fusion that the Nine Netherbird had mentioned would allow his Spiritual Energy to possess the characteristics of the Nine Nether Flame.

“How can we perform this so-called Spiritual Energy Fusion?” Mu Chen asked urgently.

“The Spiritual Energy Fusion, it is not an easy task. Since the synchronization between me and you was too low previously, we were not able to reach the level of being able to perform it. However, we should be able to barely perform the Spiritual Energy Fusion right now.”

A hint of delight appeared within the Nine Netherbird’s tone. “I must inform you, though. The Spiritual Energy Fusion is extremely painful. Your Spiritual Energy might be incinerated by my Nine Nether Flame, which would cause more pain than you being thrown into a volcano. If you are able to endure it and complete the fusion, your Spiritual Energy will change.”

“So...Are you courageous enough to try it?”

Mu Chen did not hesitate and nodded. Flames began to burn within his eyes: “When do we start?”

“There’s no need to hurry. You should rest for a day or two first. Then, after we leave the Spiritual Art Hall, we can find a place to cultivate and strive to help you breakthrough to the Heavenly Fusion Stage within two months. At the same time, we will also complete the Spiritual Energy Fusion!” The Nine Netherbird responded.

“Good!”

Mu Chen grinned. If he was able to complete both tasks, his strength would likely increase significantly. When that happens, he would possess a few means to compete against Li Xuantong.