Chapter 171: Red Mountain

Gu Mingxuan clearly saw a series of photos: a gentle-looking young man and Meng Huang'er sitting together, talking intimately. Especially striking was the one where the young man, with a face full of adoration, placed a sun hat on the young woman, whose expression was dazed. The candid shot was perfectly captured and highly expressive.

"How is he everywhere!"

Gu Mingxuan recognized Chen Mobai at once.

Shi Wanyue, standing nearby, glanced over. Seeing the photos, her expression stiffened slightly, but she still spoke up to explain for Chen Mobai.

"Meng Huang'er is also from Wuqi Daoist Academy; she was a special recruit last year. In fact, she's Senior Chen's senior. Since they're from the same school, it's normal for them to return to Chicheng Mountain together if they meet."

Despite her words, a hint of disappointment still flickered in Shi Wanyue's beautiful eyes.

As expected, only a woman of exceptional talent could be worthy of a man as exceptionally gifted as Senior Chen.

Meanwhile.

Chen Mobai and Meng Huang'er had already boarded the academy's special shuttle bus for students.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Ma Xiaoming."

Among the three of them, the other student from Wuqi Daoist Academy suddenly stopped playing with his Rubik's Cube after getting in the car, turned his head, and extended his hand to Chen Mobai.

"Chen Mobai."

"I'm from Huayang Grotto-Heaven, and you?"

"Danxia City."

"Oh, so you're from a Blessed Land. You must be one of the lucky ones from this year's expanded enrollment. What a pity, I thought you were someone impressive."

To Chen Mobai's surprise, after only two sentences, Ma Xiaoming's interest suddenly waned. Knowing Chen Mobai was from a Blessed Land, he turned back and continued playing with his Rubik's Cube.

Chen Mobai was a bit puzzled. Are people from the 36 Grotto-Heavens so heavily prejudiced against certain regions?

"Students who entered the academy through their true abilities generally look down on those of us who got in through special connections," a pleasant voice came from beside him, and a sun hat was handed over by a fair hand.

"But I also got in through a proper exam!" Chen Mobai reached out, took the hat Meng Huang'er handed him, put it in his backpack, and said with a hint of indignation.

"This year, due to pressure from the Immortal Sect, the four great Daoist academies expanded enrollment. All new students admitted from the 72 Blessed Lands are seen as special recruits who got in through the back door, just like me."

Meng Huang'er's words, however, left Chen Mobai a bit confused. "You, a big star, are also discriminated against by them at Wuqi Daoist Academy?"

"To correct you, we're not discriminating. It just feels very unfair to us who studied diligently for ten years to squeeze our way in, while you entered the academy so easily," Ma Xiaoming's voice came from the front seat.

"He's a second-year student at Wuqi Daoist Academy, a genius who stood out from Huayang Grotto-Heaven, where the student pool is most abundant and competition is most fierce." Meng Huang'er gently tilted her head towards Chen Mobai's ear and quietly introduced Ma Xiaoming's background.

"Huayang Grotto-Heaven? Isn't that Kunpeng Daoist Academy's territory? If he's so talented, why didn't he go there? It's even closer to home." Chen Mobai listened, scratching his head in confusion.

Crack.

Ma Xiaoming, in the front, suddenly shook his hand and crushed the Rubik's Cube.

"Hehe." Meng Huang'er happily laughed aloud, but immediately felt it was a bit unladylike, so she quickly pursed her lips. However, the smile at the corner of her mouth couldn't be hidden.

"Hmph, I lost to an opponent who achieved Foundation Establishment at eighteen, so I could only come to Wuqi Daoist Academy," Ma Xiaoming's words made Chen Mobai's breathing quicken.

"Foundation Establishment at eighteen? What kind of monster is that!"

"Such monsters appear every few years. This year, among the new students entering the academy, it seems there's also such a monster," Meng Huang'er bit her lip and softly said to Chen Mobai.

"Are there many?"

"Well, probably not many," Meng Huang'er was unsure and shook her head hesitantly.

"No, this year there are quite a lot of such monsters, so many that each academy can get one." Ma Xiaoming in the front turned his head and looked at Chen Mobai with a sympathetic gaze. "The quality of new students at Wuqi Daoist Academy this year is truly poles apart. You'll likely be used as a negative example, compared to that 18-year-old Foundation Establishment genius, and be remembered by all teachers and students in the school."

"That shouldn't be the case. Did the 72 Blessed Lands only recruit me as a new student?" Chen Mobai felt Ma Xiaoming was targeting him. Could it be because of Meng Huang'er's closeness to him? But that didn't seem right. Ever since getting into the car, Ma Xiaoming hadn't even given Meng Huang'er a proper look, almost mocking her for being a special recruit.

"That's not it. I just checked the new student enrollment data for this year, and your score is the lowest, so low that you shouldn't have been admitted." Ma Xiaoming raised his phone and looked at Chen Mobai with some doubt, not understanding what was so special about this person that Wuqi Daoist Academy would lower its overall admission score for him.

"I was lucky; the entrance exam happened to be on subjects I'm good at." Chen Mobai admitted to having a low score. After all, there was indeed a gap between him and true geniuses, so his tone was slightly humble.

"I hope I never see you again next year."

At this moment, the car had already reached the main entrance of Wuqi Daoist Academy.

After Chen Mobai got out, he looked up and saw the academy's golden signboard. They were at the foot of the mountain, where a long, thousand-step staircase extended to the peak, connecting the upper and lower sections. In between were endless mountain mists, through which one could faintly discern cantilevered stone platforms with buildings erected upon them.

Ma Xiaoming had already ascended the mountain and disappeared into the mist.

"Go ahead, your new student dorms are at the foot of the mountain. You'll see them after a few dozen steps," Meng Huang'er waved to Chen Mobai, picked up her suitcase, and walked off in another direction.

"Huh, aren't you going to the academy?"

"I don't get along well with the people in the dorm, so I rented a place outside," Meng Huang'er said with a smile, turned, and left a graceful figure that gradually disappeared into the distance.

After watching her leave, Chen Mobai suddenly realized something and slapped his forehead. He forgot to ask for her contact information!

Never mind, they were in the same academy anyway, and she was so famous, there would definitely be another chance to meet.

Thinking this, Chen Mobai ascended Chicheng Mountain.

The moment he stepped onto the staircase, he felt a gentle surge of spiritual energy flowing into the soles of his feet. With each step, the spiritual energy grew warmer. In his dantian and qi sea, the spiritual power vortex of the Pure Yang Scroll suddenly began to rotate spontaneously, refining and absorbing this gentle spiritual energy. After a mere ten steps, he even felt as if he was on the verge of a breakthrough.

This is Chicheng Mountain, a fifth-tier spiritual land!

Before Chen Mobai arrived, he had naturally looked up a lot of information about Wuqi Daoist Academy. Chicheng Mountain's fifth-tier spiritual vein primarily contained spiritual energy of the metal, earth, and fire attributes. Therefore, students with excellent water or wood spiritual root talent, even if admitted to Wuqi Daoist Academy, might not choose to come here.

However, for Chen Mobai's Pure Yang Scroll, this was the best cultivation sanctuary. These thousand steps also seemed to be a magical artifact. Sensing the pure yang spiritual power within him, it filtered out the metal and earth spiritual energy from the spiritual land, providing only the purest fire spiritual energy for Chen Mobai to absorb.

With this fifth-tier spiritual land alone, even if it meant staying here like a leech, he'd remain for ten years!

Chen Mobai made up his mind!