"Walking right into the trap?"
Looking at Qing Shuang, whose eyes were filled with rage, Mu Chen faintly smiled and calmly said, "My mother has protected me for so many years, so I won't do something so foolish."
"You know that?
This is the Pagoda Realm, the headquarters of the Ancient Buddha Clan. With your cultivation in the Perfected Earth Sovereign Realm, any Elder here can easily capture you! "Qing Shuang raged with her eyes widened.
She had previously taken such a huge risk to warn Mu Chen for him to hide himself and not be discovered by the Ancient Buddha Clan. But right now, that fellow actually dared to come to their Ancient Buddha Clan, so how could she not be furious?
"I'm afraid that any random Elder wouldn't be able to capture me." Mu Chen smiled upon hearing her words.
"You!" Qing Shuang knitted her brows. She clearly felt that Mu Chen was too arrogant at this moment.
However, before she could speak, Mu Chen had already taken half a step forth. In that instant, a terrifying and majestic aura burst out from his body, causing the surrounding space to tremble.
Qing Shuang squinted her eyes as she looked at Mu Chen in shock. Although the latter had only released his aura for an instant, she could still sense it from such a distance.
That aura was something that even some Elders in the clan couldn't be compared to.
"You … you broke through to the Heavenly Sovereign Realm?!"
Qing Shuang's eyes widened with disbelief on her face. One must know that when she saw Mu Chen a year ago, the latter was only a Perfected Earth Sovereign. So how did he break through the bottleneck of countless geniuses and step into the Heavenly Sovereign Realm in just a year?!
What kind of terrifying cultivation speed was this?
What kind of talent and opportunity was required for that?
As someone from the Ancient Buddha Clan, Qing Shuang was clear about the difficulty of ascending to the Heavenly Sovereign Realm. Even with the foundation of the Ancient Buddha Clan, it wasn't easy to step into the Heavenly Sovereign Realm.
Take Xuan Luo and Mo Xin for example. They were the leaders of the Xuan and Mo Bloodlines' younger generations, but even so, they had only just reached the Heavenly Sovereign Realm with the resources of the Ancient Buddha Clan. No one knew how long it would take for them to take that step.
But right now, Mu Chen had stepped into the Heavenly Sovereign Realm before the two of them. Thus, one could see how unbelievable it was.
"I merely made a breakthrough by luck with the help of some fortuitous encounters." Mu Chen's expression returned to normal.
Qing Shuang was shocked for a long time before she gradually recovered and looked at Mu Chen with a complicated gaze. She knew that if this matter spread out in the Ancient Buddha Clan, it would cause a huge uproar.
In the past, everyone thought that Mu Chen was a sinner without the support of the Ancient Buddha Clan's resources. Even if he was talented, his achievements would be limited. But the truth right now would be a slap to their faces. At the same time, it would also let them know that even without the Ancient Buddha Clan, this so-called sinner could still surpass the geniuses that their Ancient Buddha Clan had nurtured.
"Ke Ke, even if you've stepped into the Heavenly Sovereign Realm, you can't come to the Ancient Buddha Clan!"
Qing Shuang took a deep breath before she said. A Heavenly Sovereign was powerful, but it wasn't something that could cause fear in the Ancient Buddha Clan. After all, the foundation of their Ancient Buddha Clan was too deep. Not to mention a Spirit Heavenly Sovereign, even a Saint Heavenly Sovereign wouldn't dare to cause trouble in their Pagoda Realm.
"I know what I'm doing." Mu Chen nodded his head.
Seeing Mu Chen's calm expression, Qing Shuang knew that it was futile to persuade him. Thus, she gently sighed and led the way, leading the three of them into a quiet courtyard.
"Can I tell Elder Qing Xuan about your matter?" After making arrangements, Qing Shuang looked at Mu Chen and asked.
After a brief pondering, Mu Chen nodded his head.
Seeing this, Qing Shuang let out a sigh of relief and left.
Looking at her silhouette, Mu Chen turned around and said to Ling Xi and Long Xiang, "Don't go out for the next few days. Let's wait for the Bloodline Competition to start."
After all, they were in the Ancient Buddha Clan, and it would definitely attract trouble if their identities were exposed. Although they had the help of the Endless Fire Territory and Martial Realm, it wasn't enough for Mu Chen to achieve his objective.
Ling Xi and Long Xiang nodded their heads. They had stayed in the Ancient Buddha Clan for a period of time, so they naturally knew the foundation of the Ancient Buddha Clan. Now that they're in the tiger's den, they had to be careful.
After instructing the two of them, Mu Chen's figure moved and appeared on a stone pavilion in the courtyard. He sat down and raised his head to look at the sky. Spiritual light flowed in his pitch-black pupils, as if there were countless spiritual seals reflected in his pupils.
Perhaps others could only see boundless and pure Spiritual Energy in the sky of the Pagoda Realm. But in Mu Chen's eyes, he could see a massive Spiritual Array that was concealed in the void.
This Spiritual Array was the Protective Spiritual Array of the Ancient Buddha Clan. The profundity of it was something that even Mu Chen couldn't comprehend with his attainments as a Spiritual Array Scholar.
However, his objective wasn't to see through the profundity of this Protective Spiritual Array, but to sense a familiar technique in this Spiritual Array.
In the blink of an eye, noon had passed. When the sun set, his flickering eyes gradually calmed down and the spiritual light in his eyes disappeared.
"So that's the case?"
He muttered to himself with a peculiar expression. That's because he realised that there were loopholes in the Protective Spiritual Array of the Ancient Buddha Clan.
Those loopholes were extremely well-hidden, but with the familiar techniques of the Inheritance Bloodline, Mu Chen could clearly sense them. If he hadn't guessed incorrectly, they should have been left behind by his mother.
"Mhm?"
While Mu Chen was pondering about this, his expression suddenly changed and he looked at the courtyard. Space fluctuated and a silhouette slowly appeared.
It was an azure-clothed beauty with a graceful bearing. It was Elder Qing Xuan, who Mu Chen had once met in the past.
"Elder Qing Xuan, you're pretty quick." Mu Chen smiled as he looked at Elder Qing Xuan.
Elder Qing Xuan stared at Mu Chen, before her figure suddenly moved and mysteriously appeared before the latter. Her slender jade-like hand gently patted forth. Her jade-like palm turned into a sparkling and translucent light as it lightly patted down towards Mu Chen.
Although that palm didn't seem to have any power, when it descended, even the stone pavilion had collapsed. The surrounding space trembled as if it was on the verge of collapsing.
As the terrifying palm whistled over, Mu Chen maintained an indifferent expression. When the palm was about to descend, he casually waved his sleeve and brushed against the palm.
Boom!
A deep sound resounded in the sky. Mu Chen's silhouette did not move, while Elder Qing Xuan's silhouette trembled and she took several steps back with the space beneath her feet shattering.
Stabilising her silhouette, she did not make another move. She looked at Mu Chen with a complicated gaze. "When Qing Shuang told me about it, I didn't believe her. But now, it looks like you've really stepped into the Heavenly Sovereign Realm."
As she spoke, there was a flash of gratification in the depths of her eyes.
However, the gratification in her eyes was soon retracted and Elder Qing Xuan sighed, "But you shouldn't have come here."
"The Ancient Buddha Clan caused me and my mother to be separated for decades, so why shouldn't I be here?" Mu Chen indifferently said with a cold light flickering in his eyes.
Elder Qing Xuan bitterly smiled. "Even your mother, who's a Saint Heavenly Sovereign, couldn't confront the Ancient Buddha Clan, so what can a Spirit Heavenly Sovereign like you do?"
"The Ancient Buddha Clan is powerful, but I don't think they can do as they please in the Great Thousand World, right?" Mu Chen's tone was calm without any fear.
Elder Qing Xuan was briefly stunned before she helplessly shook her head. She treated those words as Mu Chen's words out of anger. After all, although the Ancient Buddha Clan couldn't do as they please in the Great Thousand World, they could do that to Mu Chen.
"What do you intend to do?" Elder Qing Xuan briefly hesitated before she couldn't help gritting her teeth.
When Mu Chen heard her words, his expression changed as he looked at Elder Qing Xuan. His indifferent expression eased up a little. "You're willing to help me?"
Elder Qing Xuan's expression dimmed. "She's still my younger sister, but our Qing Bloodline has been declining, and our authority in the clan has been decreasing. The Xuan and Mo Bloodlines have been suppressing our Qing Bloodline, so we're helpless in many matters."
"Back then, we couldn't protect your mother, and we can't let you be captured as well. If that's the case, then our Qing Bloodline will be letting down my younger sister and your grandfather."
Mu Chen fell into silence. He knew that the Qing Bloodline was flourishing in the hands of his grandfather. In the end, it stood out amongst the Branch Bloodlines of the Ancient Buddha Clan and became one of the major Bloodlines in the clan. However, his grandfather died, and his mother wasn't willing to be the head of the Bloodline, so she left the Ancient Buddha Clan. In the end, she married with his father and gave birth to him, which angered the clan and was imprisoned.
"Can you tell me about the current situation of the Qing Bloodline?" Mu Chen asked.
Although the Qing Bloodline was declining, it could be considered a help if he could obtain it. Mu Chen wasn't an arrogant person, and he didn't intend to confront the Ancient Buddha Clan by himself.
Qing Xuan smiled bitterly when she heard this and said, "I'm afraid that the situation is even worse than you think. If our Qing Bloodline doesn't perform well in this Martial Competition, then we might fall from the position of a great bloodline and become a Branch Bloodline again."
Mu Chen instantly knitted his brows. The Qing Bloodline was actually in such a pitiful state?
"What's going on with this Bloodline Competition?"
(To be continued.)