Can a Scholar Be Called a Villain - Book 1: Chapter 133: Supreme Primordial Spirit

Murong Lin stood at the edge of the sea of fire, watching the intense flames before him.

With a gesture, he summoned the obedient Bloody Poisonous Insect, which had just achieved the Cognizance realm, to land in his outstretched hand.

Murong Lin couldn’t help but feel a surge of curiosity as he sensed the insect’s aura.

He returned the insect to his own body, his attention returning to the sea of flames before him. He let out a wistful sigh, “The spiritual array that cost me 30 villain value is gone just like that.”

Earlier, he had made a shrewd investment, purchasing the lower Barren grade spiritual array from the system shop—an array known as the ‘Bloodthirsty Array’.

While lacking in direct offensive might, it possessed the remarkable ability to siphon fresh blood from a vast area, aiding in the evolution of blood-attributed lifeforms.

Murong Lin had strategically placed the slumbering Bloody Poisonous Insect within the Bloodthirsty Array some time ago. Utilizing the fresh blood spilt in the aftermath of the great battle, he harnessed this energy to cultivate the insect’s strength.

As the fresh blood was converted into power, it converged toward the Bloody Poisonous Insect’s body nestled at the centre of the array, facilitating its breakthrough.

Having already absorbed blood from Cognizance realm experts, the insect reached the Cognizance realm after being nourished by the blood of hundreds of thousands of demonic beasts and humans.

Feeling the surge of energy transmitted by the insect, Murong Lin experienced a momentary sensation of great strength, as if he were another step closer to achieving the Cognizance realm.

“This sensation is truly peculiar… Primordial spirit? Primordial spirit,” Murong Lin murmured to himself before departing from the Demonic Beast Forest.

Over the next three days and nights, the fire that had engulfed the Demonic Beast Forest finally subsided, leaving behind a forest in shambles and great losses.

Mountain pig, who had led the charge, had perished in battle, and his body became sustenance for the Blood Bat Locusts.

Of the once-mighty nine hundred thousand strong army from Chu, fewer than two hundred thousand had survived. Those left behind had become fertilizers for the Demonic Beast Forest.

With the deaths of Chu Ze and his subordinates, the nation of Chu was carved up among the three invading countries, each influential force claiming its share.

Surprisingly, the people of Chu didn’t resist; they appeared rather content instead. After all, Chu Ze’s actions had indeed harmed the interests of many.

Chu Ze’s actions had undeniably stirred up resentment among those whose interests he had harmed. Those who had lost loved ones in the war sought to collaborate with the generals from the three invading nations to conquer Chu.

In just a span of two weeks, the nation of Chu was reduced to a mere chapter in history.

During this period, Murong Lin had successfully established his fame in Yan under his false identity, ‘Nie Wu Sheng’, earning the title of a true hero. His reputation soared, especially when he entered the city walls of Chu, holding Chu Ze’s head in his hand; he was met with widespread respect.

Although many harboured resentment toward Chu Ze, they were well aware of the formidable generals and advisors under his command, with no one daring to challenge him directly. Yet, Murong Lin, with his youthful appearance, had managed to defeat Chu Ze, and even the generals under Chu Ze’s command seemed to have fallen before him.

The name ‘Nie Wu Sheng’ quickly gained renown across the three nations and even within the Ridge Fir Alliance itself. Alongside this fame came numerous invitations and challenges from children of well-off families and aspiring youths, all eager to meet or test themselves against Murong Lin.

Everyone wanted a chance to meet Murong Lin.

However, Murong Lin abruptly announced his seclusion, revealing his intent to prepare for the upcoming ‘Great Nanyue Wan Guo Tournament’, scheduled to commence in five days.

It was then that everyone learned the startling truth – ‘Nie Wu Sheng’ was not even twenty years old!

The revelation of Murong Lin’s true age, that he was indeed a young man, sent shockwaves through the entire Ridge Fir Alliance. Many had assumed he had merely preserved his youthful appearance, and the revelation that he was genuinely a teenager left them astonished.

Instantly, the alliance buzzed with excitement. Given Murong Lin’s apparent strength, they held high expectations that he might perform exceptionally well in the upcoming tournament.

Meanwhile, Murong Lin sat in his room, reviewing the rewards he had received from the system.

“Open the gift bag.” Murong Lin thought.

“Ding! Congratulations to the master for obtaining a strength-enhancing card, a Supreme Primordial Spirit card, and a fragment of the ‘Great villain halo’.”

Murong Lin studied the rewards, particularly intrigued by the Supreme Primordial Spirit card, “Anti, check the information of the Supreme Primordial Spirit card.”

“Yes!

Supreme Primordial Spirit card: Contains a sliver of a suitable Primordial Spirit essence for the user. It will aid the user in forging their Primordial Spirit.”

In practice, the effects of Primordial Spirits varied depending on the user’s strength, attributes, Intent realm, and more. Primordial Spirits were typically categorized into nine realms: the weakest three were named ‘Xia, San, Pin’, the middle three ‘Bai, Yin, Jin’, and the strongest three ‘Wang, Huang, Di’. Beyond the Di grade Primordial Spirits were the Matchless and Supreme grade Primordial Spirits, representing boundless potential and possibilities for their wielders.

Within the Ridge Fir Alliance, known Cognizance realm experts were a rare and precious few. Possessing a Wang grade Primordial Spirit marked a cultivator as incredibly powerful in the Nanyue continent.

Consequently, the Supreme Primordial Spirit card brought an overwhelming sense of delight to Murong Lin.

Despite his excitement, he managed to restrain himself from jumping up, and luckily, no one could witness his elation considering that he was indoors.

With a mad chuckle, Murong Lin made his way to the basement, prepared to break through to the Cognizance realm. He settled into a cross-legged position, focusing his concentration to its peak before crushing the ‘Supreme Primordial Spirit card’ in his hand.

In that instant, a gentle energy flowed into his body.

Within his spiritual sea, an array of countless golden spiritual threads, previously strewn about like scattered strands, began to ascend and orbit the central point of his spiritual sea.

Murong Lin swiftly circulated his《Lifelessness Law》, infusing the strength of his ‘Evil of lifelessness, lawlessness, and formlessness’ into his spiritual sea. Blackened energies appeared, merging with the golden threads.

Simultaneously, he harnessed his Blade Intent, ‘Emotionless’, forged through his innate talent of ‘Wrathful, selfish’, transforming it into formless Blade Qi, which he also merged with the threads.

On the other side, the Bloody Poisonous Insect nestled within his acupoint contributed its strength to Murong Lin, infusing his spiritual sea with its potent Blood Qi.

The golden spiritual threads, the black thin threads of spiritual power, the formless threads of Blade Intent, and the blood-red threads of the Bloody Poisonous Insect all merged and converged within Murong Lin’s spiritual sea.

In that fleeting moment, these threads intertwined and coalesced, forming a magnificent spectacle within his spiritual sea, resembling a multitude of spiritual serpents entwined together.

However, the merging of so many different energies inevitably led to complications. The spiritual threads seemed to seek the most dominant energy to fuse with, resulting in clashes that intensified as the threads became more intertwined.

Murong Lin’s complexion paled slightly, a sign of the pain he endured.

It was at this moment that the effects of the ‘Supreme Primordial Spirit card’ became apparent. A gentle light began to emanate as Murong Lin’s body tensed, gradually transforming his spiritual sea into a pure white expanse.

During the process of forging a Primordial Spirit by merging spiritual threads, cultivators invariably encountered countless trials and errors. Even if they succeeded, there was no guarantee that their Primordial Spirit would be the strongest.

However, under the influence of the ‘Supreme Primordial Spirit’, the gentle energy swiftly fused with the four energies present in Murong Lin’s spiritual sea. In that instant, these four energies started to merge into the optimal combination.

In the end, the white light enveloped and consumed the entirety of his spiritual sea. After an extraordinary gentleness, the white light gradually faded away, marking the formation of Murong Lin’s Primordial Spirit.

The first layer of the Cognizance realm!

Murong Lin savoured the sensation of his newfound strength, a faint smile gracing his lips. He then turned his attention to the Primordial Spirit that now resided within his spiritual sea.

As the white light dissipated, Murong Lin noted the absence of any threads within his spiritual sea. Instead, there was only a solitary figure—a miniature replica of himself.

However, this figure was entirely black, save for a few sporadically glowing golden stripes adorning its body. It was shrouded in a black and red fog, and its eyes were a striking shade of red, reminiscent of precious gemstones. Within the red fog, formless blade light concealed its presence.

Having completed its gradual evolution, this Primordial Spirit now shared consciousness with Murong Lin.

This was the Primordial Spirit¹ that Murong Lin had created.

1. 1. It says Matchess Supreme Primordial Spirit in the raws, which is weird, and they don’t really talk about his primordial spirit grade in the next 30 chapters so I just left it like this. ↩︎

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