Inside a quiet café, Xu Zhaoting sat opposite Mu Nianbing, his expression conflicted and full of mixed emotions.
"How on earth did you cultivate?" Xu Zhaoting finally asked.
He had always believed his talent to be above average, yet compared to Mu Nianbing, the difference was like that between a flickering spark and a radiant moon.
When Xu Zhaoting first entered Mingzhu Academy, he was brimming with confidence, determined to surpass Mu Nianbing.
But soon, he realized the entire school was already filled with legends about this man.
It was as if the sky itself had collapsed on him.
There's an old saying: One fears not only his brothers' suffering, but also fears when his brothers drive a Land Rover.
If Xu Zhaoting knew that Mu Nianbing had already broken through to High-Level, he would probably faint on the spot.
At this moment, Mu Nianbing rested his chin on his hands and said thoughtfully, "Have you ever seen the Magic City at four in the morning?"
Xu Zhaoting froze, then frowned. "Have you?"
"No," Mu Nianbing replied calmly. "I was just saying."
Although he did train diligently, he was not one of those who practiced at dawn — unless he and Ye Xinxia happened to be awake late into the night and he continued his meditation afterward.
Xu Zhaoting had been admiring Mu Nianbing's supposed hard work a moment ago, but his admiration instantly shattered.
Was this guy serious?
"By the way," Mu Nianbing asked casually, "you've been at Mingzhu for so long. Why haven't you come to find me?"
"With my meager strength, how could I have the nerve to bother you?" Xu Zhaoting said with a bitter smile.
He had only just broken through to Intermediate Level, while Mu Nianbing was already making waves on the main campus.
It wasn't that he couldn't accept the gap between them — it was that the gap was far too vast.
Mu Nianbing shook his head slightly. He could tell at a glance that Xu Zhaoting's aura was unstable, clearly just having broken through.
His second element hadn't even awakened yet. Against the Black Vatican, this kind of strength was practically meaningless.
"Let's get to the point," Mu Nianbing said, his tone growing serious. "You should be familiar with the Black Vatican, right?"
"The Black Vatican?" Xu Zhaoting's expression turned cold, his fists clenching as veins stood out on his hands.
"Why bring them up? If I ever see those monsters again, I'll kill them all!"
The fury in his eyes burned deep — after all, it was the Black Vatican who had slaughtered his family.
Mu Nianbing understood his anger, but said calmly.
"Your strength right now is far too weak. Charging in would only get you killed. Focus on improving yourself first — revenge will come when you're ready."
Xu Zhaoting took a deep breath and nodded. He knew Mu Nianbing was right. Without power, revenge was nothing more than suicide.
"There might be undercover members of the Black Vatican among the students in the Qing Campus," Mu Nianbing continued.
"If you notice anything suspicious, contact me immediately."
Xu Zhaoting's eyes hardened as he nodded firmly.
After parting ways, Mu Nianbing headed straight to the Three-Step Pagoda once again.
His Summoning Element was nearing perfect completion at the intermediate stage, and now was the ideal time to advance.
For this purpose, he had prepared two Galaxy Veins, nearly emptying his entire savings.
Five days later, Mu Nianbing emerged from the Three-Step Pagoda, exhausted but satisfied.
Both Galaxy Veins were spent — but his Summoning Element had successfully advanced to High-Level.
Not only that, his Space Element had also reached Intermediate Level One.
The Three-Step Pagoda truly was a miraculous training ground — cultivating within it felt like riding a rocket.
The only regret was that once the Ice Element reached High-Level, its effectiveness within the pagoda decreased drastically.
"Now that my Summoning Element has advanced, it's time to prepare for Cangming Jiao's evolution," Mu Nianbing thought.
His contracted beast had already reached the level of a Great Battle General, only a step away from Commander Level.
With his strengthened summoning magic, the advancement process should be much easier.
"If I can obtain some commander-level monster blood, Cangming Jiao should reach the next stage within a month."
Unlike lesser beasts, Cangming Jiao didn't need a bloodline transformation — just sufficient energy to evolve.
"Oh, and the Contracted Beast problem..." Mu Nianbing sighed, rubbing his temples.
He couldn't bring himself to accept anything below a monarch-level bloodline.
Among such creatures, sub-dragons were the most common — but even a young dragon cub would cost upwards of ten billion, far beyond his reach.
"Forget it," he muttered. "I'll just take more missions in the wilderness later."
After leaving the Three-Step Pagoda, Mu Nianbing made his way to the Fire Courtyard to assist Ding Yumian with her training.
Under his guidance, her Spiritual Element had already advanced to Intermediate Level Three, and her progress showed no signs of slowing.
However, this rapid improvement came with side effects.
Whenever they sparred, Ding Yumian would occasionally lose control under emotional influence — though their sessions also helped her vent and stabilize those same emotions to some extent.
Still, Mu Nianbing knew this wasn't a long-term solution.
"If we want to truly help her control her gift," he thought, "we'll have to send her to Lingyin Temple."
There resided a senior monk — a cultivator skilled in forbidden spells and spiritual purification.
If anyone in China could help resolve Ding Yumian's unstable gift, it was him.
But meeting that monk would not be easy, and even then, convincing him to help might prove harder still.
To most of the world, victims of such disasters were like unstable time bombs.
Days passed quickly, and the time for the Main Campus Assessment finally arrived.
"Sister Mu! The reward for this assessment is actually a training opportunity inside the Three-Step Pagoda!" Ai Tutu exclaimed excitedly.
"I bet that's the secret behind Mu Nianbing's freakish strength!"
Mu Nujiao gave her friend an exasperated look. "Don't be ridiculous. Just training there once wouldn't make someone that strong."
"If that tower were really that powerful," she added, "the entire main campus would be filled with monsters."
Still, a trace of admiration glimmered in her eyes.
Among all the young mages she had met, Mu Nianbing stood out — not only in strength and talent, but in composure and character.
"Sister Mu, you're always defending him," Ai Tutu teased with a sly grin.
"Be honest — are you interested in him? Why don't you just move into his apartment already?"
Mu Nujiao was used to Ai Tutu's nonsense, yet her earlobes still flushed pink.
"Fine," she said lightly. "I'll move in tomorrow. You can live alone."
"What?! No way!" Ai Tutu panicked immediately. "If you move out, I'm moving with you!"
Mu Nujiao sighed helplessly. This girl… always thinking of the wrong things.
"Stop fooling around," she said. "Let's gather information on the Shadow Monster first. The others have probably already started."
"Sister Mu," Ai Tutu said quickly, "should we ask Mu Nianbing for help? He's a Hunter — he must be an expert at this sort of thing."
Mu Nujiao hesitated, then nodded. "...That's fine."
...
Author's Note:
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