Chapter 158: The Besieged Long Xinlan and Zhao Muxia

Emerging from the Heart-Cleansing Pagoda, Lin Fan and his companions realized they had missed the academy's grand tournament. At that moment, they encountered Princess Muxia and Long Xinlan being pursued by disciples from other sects and academies, prompting Li Changfeng to step forward and teach them a lesson.

After stepping out of the Heart-Cleansing Pagoda and walking along the paths of Heavenly Book Academy, Lin Fan and his group were in high spirits. With their cultivation bases having advanced significantly, they chatted amiably and decided to head over to the Four Seas Wine House for a few drinks.

At the same time, due to their secluded cultivation, they learned the news that they had missed the recent secret realm contention battle, which had concluded more than ten days ago.

This secret realm contention had brought forth the absolute elites of Heavenly Book Academy, the four affiliated academies, and the super sects alike.

Figures such as Liu Qi and Dai Zengxu from the Law Enforcement Department of Heavenly Book Academy, Lie Changkong and Lie Tianyu from the Nine Emperors Pavilion, Meng Qishang and Bei Wuxie from the Martial Arts Association, and even Baili Chuan and Zhao Hai from the Heavenly Dynasty Society, along with many other powerful disciples, had all returned.

Contrary to Yang Xiao's expectations, these individuals had not entered the inner courtyard; instead, they had undergone special training!

By the day of their return, although they had not yet stepped into the Stream realm, they were all at the absolute peak of the Meridian Passage realm, standing at the half-step Stream realm. Yet, Yang Xiao and the others could clearly tell that it was not because these people were incapable of breaking through to the Stream realm, but rather that they were forcefully suppressing their cultivation.

The reason for this was self-evident: it was all for this very secret realm contention!

According to intelligence received in the days leading up to the opening of the secret realm, this particular iteration would be vastly different. Because this marked the centenary cycle of the realm, a massive amount of inheritances, the nesting grounds of the most formidable ferocious beasts, and all sorts of powerful arcane treasures would appear.

Therefore, this session of the secret realm contention was exceptionally fierce. Liu Qi and the others had clearly acted upon orders from the academy to ruthlessly suppress their cultivation while pushing their combat prowess to unprecedented heights.

Of course, just as Heavenly Book Academy had made such arrangements, the other four major academies and super sects had done the same. Many sect members who were otherwise qualified to be promoted to direct disciples had also suppressed their boundaries and chosen to forgo promotion.

After all, the secret realm contention did not permit those in the Stream realm to participate; it was a contest strictly reserved for the Qi Gathering realm, the Qi Meridian realm, and the Meridian Passage realm!

This secret realm contention was somewhat unique in that the imperial family had surprisingly allocated two hundred spots. Heavenly Book Academy secured one hundred of those spots, a vast portion of which was seized by the Gods and Demons Alliance. The remainder were divided among the Nine Emperors Pavilion, the Martial Arts Association, and the Twelfth Prince and his faction—who had rushed back upon hearing that the Heavenly Dynasty Society had been smashed through, seeking revenge.

Aside from the Gods and Demons Alliance—which was essentially the academy's Law Enforcement Department and held over forty spots—the remaining one hundred spots were distributed among the eight major factions, with each claiming anywhere from a few to over a dozen spots.

One must mention the immense power of these eight major factions. Leaving aside the four major academies—namely Tianfeng Academy, Tianhe Academy, Tiandu Academy, and Tianwu Academy—the four major super sects were the Qingtian Sect, the Heaven and Earth Pavilion, the Cold Frost Valley, and the Qingjian Sect.

Among these forces existed peerless geniuses as well. For instance, there was Du Bai, the Fist Tyrant of the Qingtian Sect who fought Liu Qi and the others to a standstill; Hong Tianhao and Yuan Xiu of the Heaven and Earth Pavilion; Bei Hanyuan of the Cold Frost Valley; and Long Yue'er and Zhong Ming of the Qingjian Sect.

Every single one of these individuals was extraordinarily powerful, with none appearing weaker than Liu Qi or Dai Zengxu. Their battles were fiercely contested, with each side pulling out all their ultimate trump cards. In the end, Liu Qi achieved a breakthrough in the Dao of Illusion right in the middle of the battle, thereby securing the one hundred secret realm spots for Heavenly Book Academy.

Concurrently, Lin Fan also learned that during this secret realm contention, quite a few disciples from the four affiliated academies harbored immense hostility toward him, openly declaring their intent to challenge him the moment they returned to the academy.

Among these individuals were practitioners of the Qi Gathering realm, the Qi Meridian realm, and the Meridian Passage realm—all of whom had previously participated in the Heavenly Book Academy trials and been eliminated by him. Clearly, they remained deeply resentful.

However, upon learning that Lin Fan had single-handedly smashed through the Heavenly Dynasty Society—one of the four major organizations of Heavenly Book Academy—these individuals all lost their momentum, quietly dropping any further talk of challenging him.

Lin Fan had been completely unaware of all this at the time. Had he known, he certainly would not have refused their challenges, especially since his cultivation had reached its current stage, and achieving another breakthrough could not be accomplished overnight.

At present, his negative emotion points were reduced to a mere sparse million or so, and Vitality Fruits, which cost 50,000 negative emotion points each, no longer held any utility for him.

By the time he reached the Qi Meridian realm, a single Vitality Fruit could only increase his vitality threads by a tiny fraction. Within the realm of Qi Meridian, a normal practitioner possessed 108 acupoints, with a single acupoint equating to 20,000 strands of vitality.

Even though Lin Fan's vitality threads were incomparably pure, exceptionally thick, and granted him vastly superior combat prowess, his total capacity for vitality threads remained unchanged.

Across all 108 acupoints in the Qi Meridian realm, with each acupoint holding 20,000 vitality threads, the total capacity was equivalent to 2,160,000 vitality threads.

Had he not possessed the Devouring Vitality Scripture, which enabled an extremely rapid cultivation speed, alongside the assistance of the Heart-Cleansing Pagoda, relying solely on Vitality Fruits to break through would have theoretically required him to consume 2,160,000 Vitality Fruits.

Yet, with each Vitality Fruit requiring 50,000 negative emotion points, consuming such a colossal quantity would have demanded a staggering 108 billion negative emotion points.

The highest record Lin Fan had ever reached was a little over 300 million negative emotion points, a mere drop in the bucket. Now that he had stepped into the Meridian Passage realm, Vitality Fruits were completely useless to him.

Even so, he would never complain about having too many negative emotion points. Whether it was for lucky draws, purchasing bloodlines, or summoning martial generals, they all served immense utility to him!

Originally, those disciples he had eliminated had entered the four major academies harboring deep resentment, contributing negative emotion points to him day and night. That was why he used to have massive influxes of negative emotion points daily. Combined with others he had offended, his daily intake had once reached several millions.

Yet, he certainly wouldn't mind having more!

As time slowly passed, the resentment these disciples held toward him had somewhat diminished. Where it once hovered around seven or eight hundred, it had now dropped to three or four hundred.

The only ones who maintained their previous levels were those he had offended with extreme severity or those who held exceptionally deep grudges!

Therefore, had he known about these people attempting to challenge him, he would not have turned them down. It would merely be a matter of casually resolving the issue while simultaneously increasing his negative emotion points—why would he object to such a win-win scenario?

Most importantly, he could easily foresee that beating these disciples up would be equivalent to slapping the four major academies across the face, which would undoubtedly cause even more people to harbor hatred or jealousy toward him. At that point, his negative emotion points would inevitably skyrocket once more.

"Step aside! Can you stop following us?"

Just as Lin Fan and his group were walking toward the outer perimeter of the academy, a crisp, angry voice suddenly rang out, filled with extreme impatience. The voice sounded somewhat familiar, prompting Lin Fan and the others to look over.

They saw two exceptionally beautiful young maidens walking toward the direction of the Heart-Cleansing Pagoda, surrounded by five or six remarkably handsome young men wearing lavish attire.

Since the area in front of the Heart-Cleansing Pagoda was a vast plaza, the two maidens were not on the exact same path as Lin Fan's group, but rather slightly off to the side.

"Long Xinlan! Zhao Muxia!"

A thought stirred in Lin Fan's mind as he turned his head backward. He saw that the wicked, charming smile usually worn by Li Changfeng had vanished, replaced by a cold gaze directed at the men surrounding Muxia. Meanwhile, Xiao Beihai, who had been meditating with closed eyes, remained entirely silent, though a faint aura of murder leaked from him.

Listening to Long Xinlan's words, it was obvious that these young men were pestering her and Muxia endlessly!

Long Xinlan was Xiao Beihai's betrothed fiancee. Although she had not yet formally crossed his threshold, she was already regarded as Xiao Beihai's person. As for Zhao Muxia, she shared a romantic relationship with Li Changfeng. Seeing people harass their respective women naturally left the two men deeply displeased.

"Xinlan, listen to me. I truly like you very much. It doesn't matter if you've already been betrothed; I can wait! Besides, I heard that fellow named Xiao Beihai is merely at the Qi Gathering realm. How could he possibly be worthy of you?"

At this moment, a youth standing before Long Xinlan spoke up. Dressed in a black long robe with the character for 'Qing' embroidered across his chest, he wore a gentle smile that felt as comforting as a spring breeze.

He was none other than Du Tianqi, an elite expert ranked in the top hundred of the Meridian Passage realm within the Qingtian Sect.

As soon as Du Tianqi finished speaking, a young man standing beside Zhao Muxia also looked at her with an intensely affectionate gaze and said, "That's right, Muxia, say something. Look at it this way: you are the daughter of the Prince of Northern Suppression, while I am the young master of the Heaven and Earth Pavilion. That Li Changfeng is nothing more than the scion of some small family from a remote corner; I heard the highest cultivation in his family is merely the Stream realm. Such a tiny family is hardly a suitable match for you in terms of social standing!"

"I don't need you to manage my affairs. I simply like Xiao Beihai, so what? Is that any of your business?"

"Whether our social standings match is something I know nothing about. I only know that you are vastly inferior to him..."