Defeating Li Xin, Nalan Shu's Shock!

Li Xin was startled, her face turning slightly pale. How had Ye Ling gotten behind her?

Why hadn't she noticed at all?

However, Li Xin had no time to keep thinking about it. She needed to find a way to break the deadlock!

But clearly, Ye Ling had no intention of giving her that chance.

"Ascension Array!" Ye Ling shouted. Terrifying golden light shot out in every direction, forming a great array that blasted Li Xin away. She flew back several meters, driving her sword into the ground as it flickered with signs of breaking.

Li Xin was somewhat dazed.

But this was not the end.

Ye Ling's combo was steadier than the last with every move.

The moment the Ascension Array ended, the first halo around Ye Ling flashed with light once more.

"Angel Assault!"

The Angel Sacred Sword in his hand stabbed toward Li Xin. This strike was incomparably fierce, as though it carried the power to destroy heaven and earth. It was utterly shocking!

Seeing this, Li Xin gritted her teeth and swung her sword to meet it again. This time, however, she was not foolishly trying to clash head-on. She intended to borrow the force of his blow and counterattack!

But before Ye Ling, this move was worthless!

The instant Ye Ling's sword struck Li Xin's blade, her sword shattered outright. The blade flew backward and viciously embedded itself in the ground, while the remaining pieces flew from her hand in other directions.

Li Xin's eyes widened. To a knight, the sword in their hand was their life. Now that her sword had flown away, it meant that Li Xin no longer had the strength to decide her own fate. Her life was now entirely in Ye Ling's hands.

Looking up, she saw that Ye Ling's next attack had already arrived. "Light Slash Sword!"

Light transformed into a blade, driven by Ye Ling as it struck toward Li Xin. Seeing this and sensing the immense power within it, a trace of despair appeared on Li Xin's face. But when she remembered that it was Ye Ling, she relaxed and closed her eyes, awaiting death.

She did not want to die here. If possible, Li Xin would rather die on the battlefield, at the hands of those demon invaders who threatened humanity. That way, she could call herself a hero!

But if there was no other way, then dying by Ye Ling's hand was still better than dying by someone else's.

However, after waiting for a moment, Li Xin did not feel the attack arrive. Instead, she felt a finger poke her cheek twice.

Opening her eyes, she found that Ye Ling was the one doing it.

"I'm not dead?" Li Xin asked in confusion.

"Sister Xin'er, are you really stupid or just pretending? Do you think I'd actually kill you while fighting you?" Ye Ling kept poking Li Xin's pretty face. It was quite fun.

Hearing this, Li Xin froze. Thinking about it that way, it seemed true enough.

Still, when she looked at the broken sword lying beside her, a trace of speechlessness flashed through Li Xin's eyes. She gritted her teeth again and said, "Is that your reason for shattering my sword?"

Ye Ling paused. "You can't blame me. I didn't know Sister Xin'er's Magic Sword was so fragile, and I didn't know your current strength was so—"

"So it's my fault? Should I have been stronger?" Li Xin said speechlessly, rolling her beautiful eyes.

Yet Ye Ling nodded. "It's really rare for Sister Xin'er to admit her mistakes!"

Li Xin nearly spat out blood. She then glared fiercely at Ye Ling. Seeing that, Ye Ling naturally understood what she intended and hurriedly retreated, while Li Xin immediately chased after him.

Forget whether he was the Angel of Light or the so-called Son of Light—right now, he could only obediently run!

However, unlike the atmosphere between the two of them, Nalan Shu stood to one side and watched everything with utter bewilderment in his eyes. He stared at Ye Ling in shock, suddenly unsure what to say.

He stood there stupidly.

Only after some time did he recover, his eyes widening. The intense stimulation caused bloodshot veins to appear in Nalan Shu's eyes, making him seem somewhat crazed as he shouted, "Zombie Face? What is going on?"

"How did Ye Ling's strength suddenly reach this level? You have to be kidding, right?"

"Xin'er is a sixth-level knight! And Ye Ling was only a Third-level Crescent Knight a month ago. How could he possibly use the Ascension Array and Light Slash Sword, which consume internal spiritual power, now? He even grew wings???"

Nalan Shu truly did not know what to say.

He felt as though he were dreaming, yet it all seemed incredibly real.

It was far too stimulating!

"You didn't see wrong. Ye Ling has awakened Internal Spiritual Power as well," Yehua said seriously. Letting this dead fat man properly experience the shock they had felt earlier was an excellent thing!

"What did you say? A Tier 3 Level 5 knight? And he has the physique of an Angel of Light? That Angel of Light with seventy points of Innate Internal Spiritual Power, destined to become Ninth Rank in the future???"

Nalan Shu's eyes widened. Honestly, even as the hall master of a branch temple, he had only encountered such geniuses a few times, let alone one appearing in the branch temple under his management.

And it was even a junior he had watched train for two years?

If he did not know that Yehua never joked about such matters due to his own talent, Nalan Shu would not have believed him at all.

Good lord, this was too outrageous.

Then, watching Ye Ling flee while being chased by Li Xin, Nalan Shu silently walked over, a trace of helplessness flashing through his eyes.

He first made Li Xin stop. What a joke—if what Yehua had just said was true, then Ye Ling was a treasure in his hands. Whether he could get promoted in the future depended entirely on Ye Ling!

How could he let Ye Ling get beaten up like this?

As long as he could keep Ye Ling steady, even getting beaten himself would be fine!

Of course, Nalan Shu did not say this aloud. Before he could, Ye Ling had already walked over to him. After performing a Knight's Salute, he took out an envelope and handed it to Nalan Shu.

At first, Nalan Shu was somewhat confused. But after opening the letter and carefully reading its contents, his eyes widened once more. He read through it all with a bewildered and shocked expression.

In the end, he carefully put the letter away and said, "You actually know that person. Since that's the case, I won't interfere with you anymore. Tomorrow, I'll give you the knight's badge."

After saying that, Nalan Shu grabbed Yehua and led him away.

After walking some distance, Yehua finally looked at Nalan Shu and asked in confusion, "Fatso? What's wrong?"

Yehua shook his head. "Were you thinking of taking Ye Ling as your disciple?"

"I had the thought, but not much of one."

"Put that thought away. Ye Ling may be from our Haoyue Branch Temple, but a big shot has already taken an interest in him."

"Who? The owner of that letter?"

"Yes. I can't tell you exactly who it is, but I can tell you this—he's a Ninth Rank, perhaps even a Divine Seal!"

Hearing that, Yehua froze for a moment. He immediately understood something and followed behind Nalan Shu as they left together.

Inside the main hall, Li Xin watched the scene unfold and curiously asked Ye Ling, "That senior from Odin Town really seems incredibly powerful. He scared Uncle Nalan that badly."

"Yeah." Ye Ling sighed. "I suddenly regret it. Back then, I should have agreed to that senior's offer instead of staying in the Haoyue Branch Temple because of you."

Ye Ling sighed, a trace of sorrow flashing through his eyes.

Hearing this, Li Xin did not get angry. She merely reached out and pinched him as her reply. "Stop thinking about it. You can't escape, little brother. For the rest of your life, you'll never escape from the palm of my hand!"

"Ah, I don't even know whether I should laugh or feel sad." Ye Ling sighed, pretending to be distressed.

The two of them fooled around for a while.

Ye Ling then returned to his room.

He sat cross-legged once more.

Closing his eyes, he entered a focused state and began contemplating the two martial spirits flickering in his mind.

"Let's keep cultivating. Cultivating more can't be a bad thing."

With that, he entered a state of cultivation.

Meanwhile, Nalan Shu returned to his office and also received information from elsewhere.

P.S. A 2,400-character chapter—please vote!