The excitement brought about by the killing of the Spirit King continued on within the hunting grounds. There were people who sighed in admiration, some who were envious, and some who were doubtful. However, no matter what, everyone knew that the two freshmen called Mu Chen and Luo Li would perhaps become the extremely dazzling dark horses of this hunting war.
In this hunting war where dark horses emerged endlessly, they had clearly walked to the forefront. Even Zhao Qingshan, who was in the limelight previously, was suppressed by their splendor, and no one talked about him anymore.
While the news of the Spirit King being killed was spreading in an uproar within the hunting grounds, Mu Chen and Luo Li had disappeared without a trace. For close to a day, no one had seen them.
Instead, there were people who guessed that their injuries were too heavy. After all, no matter what methods they had, it was obviously impossible to kill a Spirit King without paying some price.
In a certain remote area within the Spiritual Light World, on a lone peak, Luo Li stood tall and straight. His clear pupils would vigilantly sweep across his surroundings from time to time. Only after sensing that there were no abnormal movements did he turn his head to look behind him. At that place, the youth was seated cross-legged on a piece of rock. Both of his eyes were tightly shut, and the Spiritual Energy fluctuations around his body fluctuated indeterminately.
Different from the guesses of the outside world, the reason why the two of them had not appeared for a day was not because of their injuries. Although they had indeed consumed a great amount of energy in the battle with the Spirit King, the injuries they had suffered had completely healed in less than half a day.
The reason why they were delayed was because Mu Chen seemed to be in a state of breakthrough after experiencing that great battle.
After painstakingly training in the Lightning Territory, Mu Chen's strength had improved.
However, he had not successfully broken through to the Heavenly Transformation Stage, and could only be considered as a Quasi-Heavenly Transformation Stage. Although there was only a difference of a single word between the two, the difference between them was.
However, it was not small.
Only by truly taking that step would one be able to sense the profoundness of the Heavenly Transformation Stage, and possess the true power of the Heavenly Transformation Stage.
In the past, Mu Chen had always been lingering on the feeling of not being able to break through.
However, who would have expected that a miraculous feeling would involuntarily arise while he was recovering from the great battle, causing Mu Chen to be extremely delighted in his heart.
This kind of breakthrough was like a kind of sudden enlightenment. It had nothing to do with the strength of his Spiritual Energy. This was because Mu Chen knew that just based on the strength of his Spiritual Energy, he was already comparable to a Heavenly Transformation Stage expert.
It could only be said that his spiritual energy was stronger than that of a Heavenly Fusion Stage.
As for wanting to experience the profoundness of the Heavenly Transformation Stage …
That was even more impossible.
It wasn't that easy to take that small step.
On top of the green rock.
Mu Chen quietly sat cross-legged, allowing the spiritual energy around his body to fluctuate.
However, his breathing was abnormally calm, as if he wasn't affected at all.
Within his body, the Spiritual Energy was also surging. However, he did not deliberately control it and allowed it to freely circulate.
Within his aurasea, the Spirit that was emitting light sat cross-legged. On the surface of the Spirit's body, light constantly surged, and a peculiar fluctuation was faintly discernible.
The Spirit slowly opened its eyes. Its eyes were like the night sky, abnormally deep. It slowly spread out its hands, as if it was embracing the heavens and earth.
Rumble.
In the outside world, a low and deep sound seemed to resound, and a violent gale blew.
The light on the surface of the Spirit's body became increasingly bright. Its small body seemed to be moving up bit by bit, and after a moment, it came into contact with the end of the aurasea.
There seemed to be a sluggish feeling coming from that place, making it hard for the Spirit to move.
An Ran's Spirit did not move, and was only immersed in the strange feeling of resonating with the heavens and earth. Afterwards, the outside world seemed to emit a suction force, pulling Mu Chen's Spirit away from the aurasea and the restraints of it, bit by bit.
A ray of light appeared from Mu Chen's lower abdomen, passing through his body, and rushed to the top of his head.
Whoosh!
A clear ray of light fiercely shot out from the top of Mu Chen's head, rushing to the horizon. That ray of light was extremely strange. There weren't any Spiritual Energy fluctuations coming from it, but it gave people a feeling of being unable to see through it.
"Spirit leaving the body, merging with the heavens and earth!"
Looking at this scene, a happy smile surfaced from the corner of Luo Li's mouth. To be able to do this, it meant that Mu Chen had taken that step, and had truly advanced to the Heavenly Transform Stage.
The so-called Heavenly Transform Stage referred to the Spirit breaking away from the restraints of the body, and merging with the heavens and earth, concealing itself at any time, making it hard for others to detect it. Even when receiving an attack, one's body could merge with the heavens and earth, causing the injuries received to weaken. This was also the reason why Heavenly Transform Stage experts had a higher resistance to attacks than Heavenly Fusion Stage experts. The majority of this wasn't due to their tyrannical strength, but the fact that Heavenly Transform Stage experts could merge with the heavens and earth when receiving an attack, dispersing a portion of the attack.
A clear ray of light erupted from the top of Mu Chen's head, and in the next instant, a fist-sized Spirit surfaced. Following the clear pillar of light, the Spirit rushed towards the sky.
In the past, when Mu Chen was at the Heavenly Fusion Stage, his Spirit could only leave for an extremely short period of time. Furthermore, it couldn't go too far away. However, now that he had advanced to the Heavenly Transform Stage, his Spirit had clearly become even more free. This was due to the fact that the restraints on it had become increasingly weaker.
Seated within the clear pillar of light, his Spirit spread out its hands, appearing as if it was soaring between the heavens and earth. Its small face was filled with an intoxicated expression.
Rays of light blossomed from Mu Chen's body. Looking over, although Luo Li could see Mu Chen sitting there with his naked eyes, if he were to rely on Spiritual Energy fluctuations to sense it, he would discover that it was empty. Unless he intentionally searched, he wouldn't be able to find anything.
Clearly, Mu Chen had already taken that step.
In the sky, the clear pillar of light gradually dissipated, while Mu Chen's Spirit swept down. Following the top of Mu Chen's head, it drilled into his body, before finally sitting down within his aurasea.
At this moment, his tightly shut eyes slowly opened. Rays of brilliance akin to the scorching sun sparkled within his black pupils, before slowly dissipating in the next instant.
"Ah!"
Raising his head, Mu Chen was unable to endure the extremely carefree feeling within his heart. Raising his head, he gave a long roar towards the sky. His roar was akin to thunder, before spreading out in waves across the heavens and earth.
Standing up, he felt that his body had become much lighter. Although the Spiritual Energy within his body didn't increase too much, he was able to sense that he had become much stronger.
The current him had an even deeper resonance with the heavens and earth, allowing him to more easily absorb Spiritual Energy from the heavens and earth. Furthermore, the degree of resonance and compatibility was far from what it was before.
From the Quasi-Heavenly Transformation Stage to the Heavenly Transformation Stage, Mu Chen had finally crossed this step.
"Congratulations, you're now at the Heavenly Transformation Stage," said Luo Li with light steps as she walked forward. Her small and absolutely beautiful face was brimming with smiles.
"Just the Heavenly Transformation Stage is far from enough."
Replied Mu Chen with a faint smile. He had told the girl in front of him that he would become an unrivalled expert. However, as of now, he was clearly still very far away from that step.
"Let's leave first. Looking at the time, perhaps this hunting war should be nearing its end. We need to head to the deepest region," said Luo Li.
Mu Chen nodded his head. In the deepest region, there were still the true protectors. Although they had obtained the Spirit King's Spirit Crystals, if they were unable to pass through the final hurdle, not only would the Spirit King's Spirit Crystals in their hands be useless, even the other students that had participated in the hunting war would return empty-handed.
Mu Chen smacked his lips as he hurriedly felt some pressure. Although he had yet to see the three final protectors, according to his estimations, their strength might be even stronger than a Spirit King. After all, they did not only possess robust Spiritual Energy, they also possessed rich combat experience and various kinds of powerful methods.
Wanting to defeat them, all of the students that had participated in this hunting war would probably feel an extremely great pressure.
Mu Chen sighed, before pulling Luo Li's small hand. The two of them swiftly shot out. After taking out a map to determine their direction, they headed towards the southeast direction.
Approximately an hour later, the two of them slowed down, before descending on a hill not far away. At that place, there were a few figures waiting for them. It was Wang Tong, An Ran and the rest. This was the rendezvous point that they had previously agreed upon.
When Wang Tong and the rest saw Mu Chen and Luo Li appear, they immediately heaved a sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from their shoulders. They had waited here for an entire day.
"You guys have finally appeared. If you guys didn't come, I would have thought that something had happened to you guys." said Wang Tong as he wiped the cold sweat on his forehead.
Mu Chen smiled and replied, "I rested for a while, and was delayed for a bit."
"You guys are now famous people in the hunting war. I wonder how many people are looking for you guys." said Wang Tong in a low voice.
"What's wrong?" Mu Chen was startled.
"The news of you guys killing a Spirit King has already spread throughout the hunting war. Everyone knows that you guys have a Spirit King's spirit crystal in your hands. If we are able to snatch it from you guys, the Spiritual Light Empowerment this time will achieve a perfect result." said An Ran with a smile.
"Therefore, there are currently quite a few people who are eyeing the two of you. Previously, when you guys didn't appear, we thought that something had happened to you guys."
Mu Chen's brows faintly wrinkled. He never thought that there would actually be such trouble. However, he only waved his hand and said, "Forget it. If there are really blind people who want to come, then don't blame us for being impolite."
As his voice faded, he flicked his finger. Numerous purple spirit crystals shot out, shooting towards Wang Tong and the rest.
"This is the Heavenly Transformation Stage Late Spirit General's Spiritual Light. Everyone, keep it."
Mu Chen smiled. Previously, when he was underground, he had collected tens of Heavenly Transformation Stage Late Spirit General's Spiritual Light. Now, it just so happened that Wang Tong and the rest had benefited.
"Heh heh, then many thanks."
Wang Tong and the rest did not stand on ceremony, and received them with envious eyes. This level of Spiritual Light was already considered very hard to come by.
"Let's make a move as well. We'll directly head to the deepest part of the hunting war."
Mu Chen waved his hand, and casually asked, "Is there any other more important news?"
Wang Tong thought for a while, before grinning and saying, "That's right. It's said that the Heavenly Ranking's fourth, He Yao, has issued a challenge to the Heavenly Ranking's third, Su Xuan. The battlefield is at the foot of the Spiritual Light Mountain. Perhaps, the majority of the people have already rushed over."
Mu Chen's eyes fiercely constricted. This guy, as expected, couldn't bear it anymore?