Extreme Spirit Chaos Technique

As he watched the two teary-eyed girls step into the spatial tunnel, Mu Chen found he couldn’t bring himself to wave. But just as the tunnel was about to close, Lei Yun’Er and Lei Yue’er suddenly darted back out and crashed into his arms.

The tears finally broke free and streamed down her face. In that moment, Lei Yun’Er finally showed her vulnerable side, crying out hoarsely, "Brother Mu Chen, if you get a chance! If there’s ever a chance! You have to come see us!"

Mu Chen raised a hand to gently stroke Lei Yun’Er’s hair and said softly, "Mm. If I get the chance, I promise I’ll come see you."

"Really?"

"Really. I swear it to the heavens."

Hearing Mu Chen’s vow, the two girls suddenly smiled. "Brother Mu Chen, lean down a bit," Lei Yun’Er said. "I have something to tell you."

Mu Chen immediately bent down without hesitation, offering his ear to the two girls. He chuckled, "Go on, what is it? Acting so mysterious."

Lei Yun’Er giggled and whispered, "It’s..."

Her voice trailed off as she and Lei Yue’er suddenly exchanged a look. Then, faster than he could react, they each planted a kiss on his cheeks. While Mu Chen was still frozen in surprise, Lei Yun’Er giggled, quickly whispered something in his ear, and then grabbed Lei Yue’er’s hand to dive back into the spatial tunnel.

This time, the spatial tunnel snapped shut, and Lei Yun’Er and Lei Yue’er did not reappear.

Watching the two vanish into the spatial tunnel, Chu Aoqing and Mu Junwu were momentarily stunned. Then, they exchanged wry smiles.

Mu Junwu said, "I can’t believe we’re less brave than those two little girls."

"I know," Chu Aoqing said with a sense of resignation. "I’m just really curious what those two whispered in Mu Chen’s ear."

Mu Junwu blinked. "A love confession, maybe?"

Chu Aoqing looked sheepish. "...I don’t think so."

...

While Chu Aoqing and Mu Junwu were talking, Mu Chen finally snapped out of his daze. His expression turned completely serious as he murmured to himself, ’The Scroll for the Yuzi Technique?’

After seeing the two girls off, Mu Chen, Chu Aoqing, and Mu Junwu returned to the Eternal Divine Domain. However, the moment they got back, Mu Chen locked himself in Mu Junwu’s room. Over time, her room had naturally become a common area for the three of them. Aside from not having his own bed there, Mu Chen was free to use any of its space and furniture.

He closed the door, pulled a chair up to the long table, and with a flip of his hand, produced the Scroll for the Yuzi Technique. He had already reached Minor Achievement in the technique under Feng Chaoming’s guidance. What he had never imagined, however, was that the Scroll itself held a secret. This was because of what Lei Yun’Er had just whispered in his ear...

"Brother Mu Chen, there’s a hidden compartment inside the Scroll for the Yuzi Technique."

’A hidden compartment.’

Mu Chen unfurled the Scroll and began to examine it, but no matter how he searched, he couldn’t find this supposed hidden compartment. By both touch and sight, the paper seemed no different from that of any ordinary scroll. Its thickness was perfectly uniform; logically, there shouldn’t have been any way to hide a compartment inside.

However, after searching for ages, he suddenly realized he’d been thinking about it all wrong. Lei Yun’Er had said the compartment was *in* the Scroll, not *in the parchment*. A scroll is made of two parts: the parchment it’s written on and the roller it’s wound around. Since the compartment wasn’t in the parchment, it had to be in the roller.

With that thought, Mu Chen stopped worrying about the fact that it was a gift from Lei Yun’Er. He applied a bit of force with the hand holding the Scroll, and the black roller shattered. A neatly folded slip of paper suddenly appeared before him.

He took the slip of paper and quickly unfolded it. His eyes immediately fell upon a line of elegant handwriting.

"Brother Calamity, the complete Furious Thunder Force is the key to opening the path from the Thunder and Lightning Mysterious Realm to the Thunder Realm. The Thunder Realm is where the Extreme Thunder is nurtured. If you’ve truly cultivated the Furious Thunder Force, you’ll definitely know the importance of the Extreme Thunder. If you get the chance, you must come to the Thunder God Hall."

The message was brief. The words had been inscribed with Primordial Power, and judging from the penmanship, they were written in a great hurry. ’And the name "Calamity"...’ Mu Chen thought. ’She must have written this after seeing me use the Instantaneous Step during that tournament, then used some power to hide the note inside the Scroll.’

’Extreme Thunder... The Thunder and Lightning Mysterious Realm... I understand. But why would Yun’Er tell me all this?’

Mu Chen couldn’t make heads or tails of it. But then he remembered the flash of pain in Lei Yun’Er’s eyes when she’d mentioned the Thunder God Hall, and how she’d seemed to rely on him. Combined with her words, it seemed she had a very poor relationship with her family. A suspicion began to form in his mind, but he couldn’t be certain. In any case, now that he knew the whereabouts of the Extreme Thunder, he had to go to the Thunder God Hall—he had no other choice!

With a wave of his hand, Mu Chen swept the shattered fragments of the roller into his sleeve. He then carefully rolled up the parchment part of the Scroll and placed it in his Storage Ring. As for the note, he had already incinerated it with a release of his Fire Attribute Elemental Power.

He quickly stepped out of the room, and after a brief greeting to Chu Aoqing and Mu Junwu, Mu Chen returned to his daily cultivation routine. On the surface, nothing seemed to have changed. But Chu Aoqing and Mu Junwu could both tell that compared to five months ago, Mu Chen’s attitude toward his cultivation was now even more serious.

"What happened?" Chu Aoqing asked.

"I don’t know," Mu Junwu replied.

...

And so, time quietly passed...

「One Year Later...」

Central State, the very heart of the Extreme Martial Continent. This region was home to the most powerful families and sects on the entire continent, including the mysterious and revered Four Great Top-level Families and the Nine Hidden Families. It was also the hub of the continent’s most prosperous trade routes. The land itself was known for producing exceptional people, nurturing generation after generation of peerless experts and monstrously talented geniuses. Although Central State was smaller than a Dynasty, any one of its Low-level Sects could have easily destroyed one. The only reason they didn’t was that the Dynasties were all their vassals, and destroying them would be like cutting off their own source of resources. No one was foolish enough to do that.

From ancient times to the present, a saying has persisted through every era: "The Dynasties have the land; Central State has the people." What does this mean? It means that although the territories of the Dynasties were vast, their populations combined didn’t even amount to a tenth of Central State’s. And when it came to Martial Arts Realms, the people of the Dynasties weren’t even in the same league as those from Central State.

In the Dynasties, only Middle and High Level Empires had Venerable Realm experts serving as Elders and Guardians. But in Central State, Venerable Realm Martial Artists were a dime a dozen. It was said that if you accidentally kicked a pebble on the street, there was a good chance it would hit a Venerable Realm expert!