281: The Grand Elder has been very kind to you!

Outside the private room of the Medicine Spirit Pavilion, Lei Lie, who was closest to the source of the Dou Zong aura, stood frozen in place, his rugged face filled with extreme shock and disbelief!

He felt the vast pressure, so close yet so unfamiliar, and his mind was almost blank!

"Dou… Dou Zong?!"

He swallowed hard, his throat dry and aching.

"This aura is coming from the secret chamber?! Is it Brother Jiang or Old Mu?!"

He didn't dare to think deeper!

If Jiang Donghua had broken through to Dou Zong, though equally shocking, it could be reluctantly accepted given his monstrous talent.

But what if it was Mu Chen?!

Mu Chen, who had been tormented by a strange illness for five years, whose cultivation had plummeted, and who had been almost given a death sentence by everyone?!

That completely overturned all of Lei Lie's understanding!

Just as his mind was in a turmoil, a powerful aura arrived from afar, instantly descending!

It was none other than the Great Elder, Ye Tianxing, who arrived with a solemn expression, treading through the air!

Ye Tianxing's gaze immediately locked onto the source of the aura's eruption.

That tightly sealed secret chamber.

His brows were tightly furrowed as he felt the residual, gradually stabilizing Dou Zong aura in the air, a very complex and confused expression on his face.

"Although this aura is powerful and unfamiliar, there's a faint sense of familiarity?"

He muttered to himself, then suddenly looked at Lei Lie, who was standing at the door as if he had seen a ghost, and asked in a deep voice.

"Lei Lie! Is the person inside Mu Chen?!"

He had personally tried to treat Mu Chen's strange injury before, but ultimately with little effect, leaving him helpless.

Now, feeling this Dou Zong aura that might be related to Mu Chen, the shock in his heart was even greater than Lei Lie's!

Lei Lie was startled by the Great Elder's question and finally came back to his senses. He nodded vigorously, then shook his head abruptly, his expression uglier than crying.

"Great Elder! I don't know either! Brother Jiang and Old Mu have been inside for more than ten days, and there hasn't been any movement! This suddenly just… happened! I'm baffled too!"

He really didn't know the specifics; this sudden change was completely beyond his comprehension.

Just as Ye Tianxing's brows furrowed even deeper, preparing to forcibly investigate the situation inside the secret chamber.

"Creak—"

The heavy wooden door of the secret chamber, which had been closed for more than ten days, was slowly pushed open from the inside.

Ye Tianxing and Lei Lie's gazes instantly focused on the doorway!

Two figures, one in front of the other, calmly walked out.

The one walking in front was Jiang Donghua, with a calm expression and a faint, elusive smile on his lips, making it impossible to gauge his depth.

Following closely behind was Mu Chen. His face held an uncontrollable excitement and a powerful aura that had not yet fully receded.

Ye Tianxing's gaze, like a searchlight, immediately fell upon Jiang Donghua.

With his Five-star Dou Zong Soul Power, he couldn't see through Jiang Donghua's current state at all!

He only felt as if an invisible mist enveloped the other party, their Soul Power unfathomably deep, giving off an extremely dangerous feeling!

"How did this kid's Soul Power become so terrifying?!"

Ye Tianxing was horrified.

Immediately, his gaze swept towards Mu Chen.

This time, he saw even more clearly!

The Dou Zong aura on Mu Chen, which he couldn't perfectly conceal due to his recent breakthrough, was as conspicuous as a bright lamp in the dark night!

"Three-star Dou Zong?!"

Ye Tianxing's pupils suddenly constricted, his heart surging like a stormy sea, and he couldn't help but curse under his breath.

"Damn it!"

"One's Soul Power has become unfathomably deep, monstrously so!"

"As for the other, if his Dou Qi hadn't been insufficiently concealed, with his aura leaking out, I really wouldn't have noticed that this kid had quietly become a Three-star Dou Zong?!"

"What earth-shattering events happened in this secret chamber these past ten days?!"

This completely irrational scene left the well-informed Great Elder of the Inner Academy utterly shocked and bewildered!

Ye Tianxing swayed and slowly descended from mid-air, standing in front of Jiang Donghua and Mu Chen.

His usually dignified and steady face was now filled with undisguised shock and urgency.

He first gave Jiang Donghua, whose aura was deep and inscrutable, a complex look.

Then he abruptly turned to Mu Chen, scrutinizing his vibrant and healthy appearance, devoid of any sickness, his voice carrying a barely perceptible tremor.

"Mu Chen! You Stinky Kid! Is your body really healed?!"

Mu Chen looked at the Great Elder's concerned yet disbelieving gaze, and a warm current surged in his heart. He nodded vigorously, a brilliant smile blooming on his face.

"Yes, Great Elder! Completely healed! Thanks to Brother Jiang!"

"What exactly happened?!"

Ye Tianxing eagerly pressed, his gaze fixed on Mu Chen.

"What's with your Dou Zong cultivation?! And that curse?"

Mu Chen took a deep breath, calming his excited emotions, and began to recount in detail everything that had happened in the secret chamber.

From how Jiang Donghua risked using his Soul Power to investigate the core of the curse, to discovering the remnant Soul Power recording of Venerable Huanhai, then learning the secret of his pursuit and demise by the Hall of Souls, and finally the perilous process of the remnant Soul Power self-destructing and transforming into pure energy absorbed and refined by the two... Mu Chen's narration was clear and logical, his tone filled with gratitude for Jiang Donghua and emotion for that experience.

As he recounted, the expressions on the faces of the Great Elder, Ye Tianxing, and Lei Lie were truly a sight to behold!

Ye Tianxing went from initial shock, to horror upon hearing the name Venerable Huanhai and the Hall of Souls, then to sudden enlightenment upon learning the truth of the curse and the energy inheritance, and finally to complete stupefaction when he understood the reason for their rapid increase in cultivation!

Lei Lie was even more exaggerated; his mouth hung open, his jaw almost hitting the ground, his ox-like eyes wide and round, and unconscious gurgling sounds escaped his throat, as if he had heard a tale from the Arabian Nights!

"Venerable Huanhai, Eight-Star Dou Zun, Grade 8 Alchemist, Hall of Souls, curse self-destruction, energy inheritance…"

Ye Tianxing muttered, repeating these keywords, feeling that the amount of information was so vast that it made even a powerful person like him feel a bit dizzy and disoriented!

"This is simply an enormous stroke of luck!"

He could only let out such a sincere sigh, filled with endless envy and emotion!

His gaze towards Jiang Donghua and Mu Chen was filled with complex and inscrutable meaning.

Who would have thought that the incurable disease that had plagued the Inner Academy for several years, and for which even he was helpless, concealed such an earth-shattering secret and fortune behind it!

And these two young men had actually turned misfortune into a blessing, obtaining such a heaven-defying inheritance!

After a long while, Ye Tianxing finally slowly recovered from this immense and shocking information.

He took several deep breaths, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and a very amiable, even somewhat mischievous smile suddenly appeared on his face. He heavily patted Mu Chen's shoulder, his tone becoming exceptionally warm.

"Good! Good! Mu Chen! You Stinky Kid, this time you've turned misfortune into a blessing and soared to great heights!"

He changed the subject, leaning closer and lowering his voice, speaking in a coaxing tone like a bad uncle trying to trick a little girl.

"Look! When you were at the academy before, wasn't I, the Great Elder, quite good to you? Didn't I take care of you a lot?"

Mu Chen was a bit bewildered by the Great Elder's sudden enthusiasm and strange smile, and he subconsciously nodded.

"The Great Elder has naturally been very good to me."

"That's good! That's good!"

Ye Tianxing's smile became even brighter. He rubbed his hands, finally revealing his true intentions.

"Your current Three-star Dou Zong cultivation, placed in the Inner Academy, is top-tier among the top-tier!"

"Look at my position as Great Elder; I'm busy all day, I don't even have time to cultivate!"

"Are you interested in taking over the burden of the Great Elder of the Inner Academy and helping me out?"

After he finished speaking, he even winked at Mu Chen, his expression exactly like a strange old man holding a lollipop to tempt a child!

Lei Lie and Jiang Donghua, witnessing this scene, couldn't help but twitch their mouths.

This Great Elder's speed in changing his expression and poaching people was truly astonishing!