75: Chapter 75 I Want to Devour the Heavens
Yuanwu Academy, Vice Principal's Office.
Rather than an office, this place was more like an excessively simple tea room.
Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss, tall and burly like a mountain range, sat alone on a prayer mat.
Before him was a set of coarse ceramic tea sets; within the curling tea fragrance, an indelible loneliness permeated the air.
When Lin Yuan pushed the door open and entered, he didn't even look up, merely calmly lifting the teapot, preparing to pour himself another cup.
However.
The very instant Lin Yuan's foot stepped into the room.
Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss's hand pouring the tea suddenly froze in mid-air.
An aura of a ferocious beast, restrained to the extreme, silently submerged the entire tea room.
Crack!
The coarse ceramic teacup in his hand became covered in spiderweb-like cracks and shattered with a bang.
Scalding tea water splashed all over his hand, yet he was completely oblivious to it.
This former Prison-Suppressing Emperor abruptly looked up, his eyes locking onto Lin Yuan with a death stare.
In those eyes, usually as steady as a ten-thousand-year-old well, stormy waves appeared for the first time!
Eight days!
From the time Lin Yuan left to his return, it had only been eight days!
This kid actually used the most savage and illogical method to forcibly smash through the realm barrier and achieve One-Star Sect Realm!
What kind of fucking monster is this?!
Even if one ate Dragon Blood Grass as a staple meal, it shouldn't be this ridiculous!
Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss could even clearly perceive that the aura within Lin Yuan's body was not superficial; instead, it was terrifyingly solid. The stability of that foundation made even him, a former Emperor Realm, feel a jolt of alarm.
Lin Yuan ignored the stormy waves in his eyes, walked over to sit opposite him of his own accord, and got straight to the point.
"Principal, I want to go to the front lines."
His words were very flat, as if stating an established fact.
"Going now."
Between Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss's tightly locked brows, the shock slowly settled, replaced by a heavy sense of incomprehension and the irritation of being provoked.
His voice was low, like a mountain range slowly shifting.
"Nonsense!"
"Do you know what your status is now? You are the most brilliant and stunning genius of the entire human race in nearly a hundred years!"
"Your task is to cultivate steadily in the academy, using the shortest time to break through the King Realm, Imperial Realm, and even touch that supreme Emperor Realm!"
Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss's voice grew heavier, carrying a suppressed fury.
"What kind of place is the front line? It's a meat grinder! It's a graveyard for consumables! For you to run there now is a pure waste of talent!"
In his view, letting a treasure of Lin Yuan's caliber go to the front lines to fight those low-level demons was simply a crime against the entire future of the human race!
However, Lin Yuan just looked at him calmly and asked a question in return.
"Principal, what kind of wild beast do you think can devour the heavens?"
Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss was stunned.
Lin Yuan curled the corners of his mouth; that smile carried a hint of grim wildness.
"In a greenhouse, one can never raise a beast that can devour the heavens."
"To me, the battlefield is not a graveyard."
"It is the most fertile hunting ground."
At this moment, Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss's pupils constricted violently.
He looked at Lin Yuan's pure, pitch-black eyes. For some reason, a figure long sealed in the deepest part of his memory with endless regret and pain overlapped fiercely with the Lin Yuan before him.
That was a man who was equally brilliant and stunning, equally mad and obsessive.
Back then, also under such dissuasion, that man had stubbornly insisted on his own way, carrying the most tragic determination as he charged alone toward that Nine Nether Demon Abyss that tore through heaven and earth.
In the end, he transformed into the Torch Dragon, burning away his Emperor's blood.
That was an eternal pain in his heart.
It was also the reason why he later sacrificed his own cultivation to transform into a stone tablet to suppress the rift.
Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss closed his eyes; his mountain-like body had a chest that was heaving violently.
He realized that he could not trap the hidden dragon before him.
Forcibly blocking him would only destroy that invincible heart of the Dao that moved forward with indomitable will, preferring to break rather than bend.
After a long time.
Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss slowly opened his eyes and, with great care, took an object from his robes.
It was a palm-sized stone tablet, dark yellow all over, simple and unadorned, yet engraved with the miniature of mountains and rivers, radiating a heavy aura that suppressed all ages.
"This is the origin core of the 'eternal mountain and river suppression stele'."
Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss pushed the stone tablet in front of Lin Yuan, his movements slow and heavy.
"Sealed within is a strand of my will; at a critical moment, it can suppress and kill any powerful enemy below the Emperor Realm."
He emphasized his tone, every word like a stone smashing onto the ground.
"It can only be used once."
"Don't die, otherwise I won't be able to give an account to that madman Qing Ming."
Lin Yuan looked at the stone tablet before him and didn't stand on ceremony, directly reaching out to take it.
A cold and heavy tactile sensation came through; he could feel the terrifying power contained within, enough to turn heaven and earth upside down.
This was not just a life-saving trump card.
It was also an Emperor's heaviest expectation and protection for a junior.
Just then.
The office door was knocked.
"Reporting!"
A steady and powerful voice came through.
"Come in," Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss said.
A middle-aged man pushed the door and entered.
He had a square face, bronze skin, and short grey-white hair that stood on end; his entire being exuded a blood-and-fire iron-blooded aura that could only be tempered on the battlefield.
"Principal, the Academy Emergency Support Group has finished assembling and is ready to depart at any time."
The newcomer was none other than the academy's senior tactical instructor, Zhen Hai.
A Two-Star King Realm expert!
Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss glanced at him, then looked at Lin Yuan, solemnly instructing.
"Zhen Hai, from today onwards, you have only one mission."
Zhen Hai stood at attention, his gaze sharp as he responded in a deep voice: "Please give your orders, Principal!"
Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss's gaze fell on Lin Yuan, every word carrying the weight of a mountain.
"Protect his safety at all costs."
"Even if... your entire Emergency Support Group is wiped out, you must ensure that he comes back alive!"
"Yes!"
Zhen Hai nodded heavily. His gaze toward Lin Yuan changed instantly; it was a look of scrutiny and evaluation that finally transformed into the determination to absolutely execute the order. He carved this excessively young face firmly into his heart.
Lin Yuan did not speak from beginning to end.
Only after Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss finished speaking did he stand up and bow slightly toward this silent Emperor.
This had nothing to do with strength, only respect.
Subsequently, he turned and walked out of the office with Zhen Hai.
In the empty room, Mountain Sinking Deep Abyss was once again the only one left.
On the table, the tea from the cracked cup had already finished flowing out and was gradually cooling.
He watched Lin Yuan's departing back. Only after a long time did he let out an almost inaudible murmur to himself.
"Torch Dragon..."
"If this boy does not die, that blood debt owed by the Nirvana Demon Lord back then..."
"Perhaps, it really can be paid in full."