"Have you linked up yet? Why don't I feel anything?" Nantian Yijian had tried again and again, yet his mind still couldn't connect with the identity token. "Boss, why hasn't it ended yet? It's been nearly half an hour. I'm worried someone might suddenly show up." "There's no need to worry," Jun Laoye narrowed his eyes as he spoke. "Anyone outside would have to break through the defensive barrier or already hold a Serene Void Command Token to get in. Little Lu should be waking soon. It's only the token-granting ceremony, after all." As soon as he said that, Lu Chen let out a loud shout. The two Green Sovereign Divine Trees manifested behind him at once. Their emerald glow filled the plaza, and more than two hundred leaves drifted down from the branches. Each leaf transformed into the mark of a new world, merging into the brows of the Serene Void disciples. A faint thread extended from those marks, linking to the chief disciple identity token, then finally connecting with the Acquired Green Sovereign Divine Trees. "Did it work?" Nantian Yijian's voice shook with excitement as he watched the scene unfold. "It's finally done!" "Mm. Looks like it's a success." Jun Laoye caught the identity token as he slowly descended to the ground. "This Divine Tree must be Little Lu's most important treasure. Ever since we met him, this tree has always been with him." Lu Chen suddenly opened his eyes and immediately spoke, "I've decided! I'm going to draw the Green Sovereign Divine Tree." The token in his hand slipped and landed on the ground. "Huh? What's this? When did this appear on the token?" His shout stirred the plaza. The Serene Void disciples woke one after another, clutching their identity tokens as they tried to recall what had just happened. "It's finished? But I don't remember actually receiving the token. It feels like I just had a dream." "Yeah, me too. It was like a dream," Sun Xiaohu said, staring at the Green Sovereign Divine Tree behind Lu Chen. "That's it! I felt like I entered a new world, and that tree stood right at the center." "You went in as well?" Song Xiao'er turned to him in excitement. "I saw spirit beasts. There were so many of them, and they were all ancient, long-extinct species!" "No, that's not it. What I saw was darkness, with only a giant tree at the world's center radiating light." Jun Xiaoma listened, then suddenly spoke. "I saw that tree too, but I also saw what you both described. Could Senior Brother Lu be the reason for all of this?" "That must be it! I seemed to have seen—" The disciples kept talking, their eyes fixed on the Green Sovereign Divine Tree behind Lu Chen, each recounting their dreamlike visions. During that half hour, each of them had stepped into the embryonic new world born from Lu Chen's Green Sovereign Divine Tree. Through its mysterious power, they glimpsed unique scenes of the future, the past, and countless other things that were lost over time. The plaza buzzed with voices, but Lu Chen stood dazed. The ancient tree carved onto the token wasn't something he had. It was the fusion of the ancient parasol tree and the Green Sovereign Divine Trees. "Senior Brother Lu, what's wrong? You don't look very pleased," Wang Xiaolong noticed his unsettled expression and asked, "The token-granting ceremony was a great success. We can already feel the power flowing from you, and it's incredibly strong." "Uh... can I just say this isn't what I drew?" Lu Chen stepped into the crowd, speaking with hesitation. "I wanted to engrave my divine ability and the yin-yang twin fish, but somehow, this strange tree came out instead. I don't even have anything . So how could it appear?" Song Ping picked up his own token, examining it carefully. "Don't dwell on it, Lu Chen. The chief identity token is no ordinary object. Strange manifestations are normal. "When a new chief inherits the token, if his potential is great, the token may engrave new things on its own, reflecting his past and his state of mind to aid his growth. There's even precedent for this. "Perhaps the tree on your token is simply the future form of the Green Sovereign Divine Tree, or maybe it holds some deep meaning in your heart." "There's a precedent? Hearing that makes me feel much better." Lu Chen recalled the aged, hoarse voice he had heard within the token and tried to reassure himself. Maybe that was really the case. Still, I should make a trip to Heaven Ocean Peak. For more chapters visit novel{f}ire.net "Speaking of meaning, this tree reminds me of the old parasol tree at the village entrance. Our ancestors planted it, so perhaps that's why what I tried to engrave turned into something new." "That must be it. You don't need to worry. This imprint you created is far stronger than any I've seen before, and the tree seems to be changing still. It feels as though the engraving isn't even finished yet." "Senior Martial Brother Song, what should we do now?" Lu Chen asked softly, glancing at the dense crowd of Serene Void Academy's disciples in the plaza. "What comes next?" Song Ping explained, "The handover ceremony is complete. From here on, it depends on how you lead the Serene Void Academy's disciples to rise through countless obstacles and claim the seat as the foremost of the six academies." He then lifted his gaze toward the academy's edge. "For now, you'd better head to the Scripture Hall and hide." "What do you mean?" Lu Chen lifted his head and looked into the distance. "Why should I hide?" "The people from the six academies... no, people from all of Heavenly Mandate Hall are here." Song Ping turned back to Lu Chen and said, "The lord warned me about this before. He said that once you took over as Serene Void Academy's chief disciple, it'd definitely stir up a great commotion, and the chief disciples of the other academies would definitely show up. He said that when that happened, you'd have to hide. It's not yet the time for you to reveal your true strength." "I didn't understand what he meant before. Now it seems the lord had truly predicted what was to come." "The people of the Heavenly Mandate Hall are here for me?" Listening to Song Ping's explanation, Lu Chen gathered spirit qi in his eyes and looked into the distance once more. On the floating staircase outside the Serene Void Academy's gate, a dense crowd had already gathered. Leading them were the chief disciples of four other academies. On his way back to the Serene Void Academy, Lu Chen had already studied each of these chief disciples. He had memorized their traits and appearances and had prepared a countermeasure based on every one of their known weaknesses. Meanwhile, Zhou Fan of the Wind Lightning Academy was standing at the gate, shouting for Lu Chen to come out and face him. "You're still underestimating the power of a chief disciple. In the Heavenly Mandate Hall, the resources given to chiefs are outrageously unbalanced. What a chief disciple receives in a single month is worth more than what a core disciple gets in ten years. "Beyond that, chief disciples have free access to the sect's secret realms, unrestricted entry into the Scripture Hall, and if their cultivation is high enough, they can even ignore ordinary rules. Most elders would simply turn a blind eye to it. "You broke the rules just now when forcing your way through the gate, yet none of the three peak lords came to hold you accountable. Doesn't that tell you how important the position of chief disciple really is? Lu Chen heard what Zhou Fan was saying loud and clear. "Is that it? I've injured a fellow sect brother as well. Yet... Is that the reason why when Ning Tai came, he only dragged Lei Bao away and left me alone?" Hearing Song Ping's explanation, Lu Chen slowly came to understand the unspoken rules of the Heavenly Mandate Hall. Unless one killed fellow sect brothers, strength reigned supreme. Lu Chen asked once more, "A chief disciple can seize resources from other academies as well, right?" Song Ping explained, "That's right. But only the six chief disciples get to ignore the rules. If an ordinary inner disciple breaks sect law without a chief disciple's protection, the consequences are dire." Turning to the Serene Void Academy's disciples, he called out, "Pay no mind to those flies outside. Clean up the grounds. We're having a celebration tonight." He smiled and waved, dismissing the cultivators in the square and setting them to work tidying the academy. "For the next few days, leave those flies to me." Looking at Lu Chen, he laughed. "Let them wait at the gate. We won't answer, and they won't dare to force their way in. Tonight I'll have Xiao'er prepare a feast for the brothers. From now on, we'll drink and feast in the plaza every night, and we'll see who lasts longer." "By the way, didn't you say you lacked knowledge of cultivation across the continent?" He pointed to the building in the upper left. "Go to the first Scripture Hall. It holds the latest records of cultivation on the continent. By the time you're finished, the lord's required period of seclusion will be over. "Then the academy will be cleaned up and ready. We'll prepare a welcoming feast for you, and once we've eaten our fill, we'll throw open the gate and face those flies head-on." Lu Chen thought for a moment. I really need to learn more about cultivation across the continent. He nodded. "Then I'll trouble you with this for the next few days, Senior Martial Brother Song. Once I finish studying in the hall, I'll lead the brothers to take back what's rightfully ours." "It's no trouble at all. But you'd better disguise yourself with spirit qi. Don't let the disciples in the hall recognize you." With that, Song Ping waved his hand, his aura steadily rising as he walked calmly toward the gate of the Heavenly Mandate Hall. Lu Chen cupped his hands in salute. "Understood, Senior Martial Brother Song. I won't take too long." He then headed for the teleportation formation together with Nantian Yijian, Nantian Wan'er, and Jun Laoye. Seated on Wind Dragon's back, he looked down. Thanks to the function of the chief disciple identity token, he could see the entirety of Serene Void Academy for the first time. Buildings spread across the east, south, west, and north, laid out in the pattern of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, encircling the central plaza.[1] Each district subtly corresponded to its trigram: kitchens in the south, spirit fields and residences in the east, the martial arena and forge in the north, while spirit beasts and exotic creatures were housed in the west. "I really wonder who designed this place. The entire layout forms a grand formation, and with this chief disciple identity token in hand, I'm basically invincible within the Serene Void Academy." He glanced down at the token. On the great tree engraved upon it, a small flower had bloomed, developing a new function, the power to command the entire grand formation of the Serene Void Academy. 1. The Nine-Palace Eight-Trigram layout is a formation based on a square divided into nine sections, much like a three-by-three grid. The central plaza is called the Central Palace, while the surrounding eight positions correspond to the Eight Trigrams of the I Ching—Heaven, Earth, Water, Fire, Lightning, Wind, Mountain, and Lake. Each palace not only marks a direction—north, south, east, west, and the four corners—but also carries the qualities and energies of its trigram, representing natural forces and cosmic balance. When arranged together, the nine palaces form a map that blends positional order with the dynamic interplay of the trigrams. In practice, this layout is often used as the foundation for feng shui, Daoist rituals, or military arrays, serving as a spatial design that can channel energy, confuse intruders, or trap opponents in shifting illusions. ☜