Northern Cang Academy, Northern Cang Realm!

With Liu Jingshan's death,

the violent Spiritual Energy fluctuations in the sky rapidly subsided, as if the terrifying battle from before had never happened.

Only the shattered stone halls and ruined towns bore witness to everything that had just occurred...

For a time,

the clamorous Nine Regions City became utterly silent.

The Domain Lords of the Nine Regions and the leaders of various factions looked at the majestic figure departing through the heavens.

Their minds reeled in dizziness and disbelief.

Everything felt so unreal...

Liu Jingshan had simply been erased like that?

A Heaven Fusion Realm expert had fallen just like that?

Liu Region's ambition to dominate the Northern Spirit Territory had been so easily crushed?

And the one who had done all this

was actually a mere seventeen-year-old youth...

After a long while!

Nine Regions City erupted with endless cheers and excitement.

In an unnoticed corner,

Mu Chen carried Mu Feng's corpse on his back as he watched that figure become a black dot in the sky.

His incomparably stubborn heart was no longer as resolute.

His ambition to surpass Qing Luo wavered as well.

He felt like a joke, a clown. This was the first time Mu Chen had felt a despair so crushing that he could not even face someone his own age.

Qing Luo...

This youth from the Northern Spirit Territory was far more terrifying than Ji Xuan, that peerless genius with a king-tier evaluation who came from beyond the Hundred Spirits Land.

"Thank you!"

Mu Chen murmured in the direction Qing Luo had departed.

Then,

he led the remaining experts of Mu Region away from Nine Regions City in utter desolation.

"Thank you for saving me,

for avenging my father... But... I won't give up. No matter how great the gap between us is, I will definitely catch up to you...

Definitely!"

Mu Chen silently swore in his heart. He never wanted to endure that feeling of powerlessness a second time!

Half a month had passed since the Nine Regions Assembly.

During those half a months,

what had happened in Nine Regions City, and Qing Luo's feat of slaying a Heaven Fusion Realm expert,

spread across the entire Northern Spirit Territory at an astonishing speed.

Upon hearing of that battle, everyone's pupils constricted, while towering waves surged in their hearts.

The Heaven Fusion Realm!

No expert of that level had appeared in the Northern Spirit Territory for who knew how many years.

Yet Liu Jingtian had only just stepped into the Heaven Fusion Realm when he was domineeringly slain by the Azure Domain Lord—Qing Luo!

What shocked people even more than Liu Jingtian's death was that

the one who had acted

was merely a seventeen-year-old youth.

Not long ago, he had only just entered the Spirit Soul Realm, yet he had slain a Heaven Fusion Realm expert with Spirit Soul Realm cultivation...

Such a dazzling achievement

made the name Azure Domain resound through nearly every corner of the Northern Spirit Territory.

And Lin Luo

became the pride of everyone in the Northern Spirit Territory, as well as the idol of its younger generation.

As the earth-shattering battle faded into the past,

the distribution of power in the Northern Spirit Territory quietly underwent earth-shaking changes.

Having lost Liu Jingshan and possessing no Spirit Soul Realm experts,

Liu Region was naturally stripped of its qualification as one of the Nine Regions.

The territory and forces that had originally belonged to Liu Region were all taken over by Azure Domain.

Azure Domain went from being the weakest of the Nine Regions

to becoming the strongest force in the Northern Spirit Territory in one stroke!

As many experts drawn by its reputation joined Azure Domain, although Azure Domain had not explicitly declared any intention of dominating the Northern Spirit Territory,

the Domain Lords of the various regions had already tacitly acknowledged Azure Domain's transcendent status.

They regarded Azure Domain as the foremost of the Nine Regions...

As Azure Domain rose to prominence,

the two-month rest period also came to an end, and the Northern Spirit Territory's attention once again gathered on Northern Spirit Academy.

Today

was the day when the Northern Spirit Territory's geniuses, those qualified to enter the Five Great Academies for cultivation after the selection,

were set to depart.

"As expected of Northern Spirit Academy's number one. To be able to slay a Heaven Fusion Realm expert, Qing Luo's strength is probably even more terrifying than the Dean's..."

"Qing Luo is practically my idol. What realm is he even in now?"

"Who knows? I thought entering the Five Great Academies would narrow the gap between us and Qing Luo, but now I don't have the slightest confidence!"

"Yeah... The gap now is enough to make anyone despair!"

Northern Spirit Academy,

on a vast plaza,

the academy's students had arrived early, filling the enormous plaza to the brim.

Their conversations were all about the earth-shattering battle that had taken place in Nine Regions City not long ago.

Qing Luo's prestige

reached its peak at that moment!

Even those geniuses who had likewise obtained places in the Five Great Academies

had eyes full of deep admiration and the helplessness of knowing they could never catch up whenever Qing Luo was mentioned.

"Qing Luo is here!"

Someone outside the plaza shouted.

At once,

countless gazes turned toward the entrance beyond the plaza.

There, a handsome and carefree figure dressed in white, like an exiled immortal,

strolled lazily toward the plaza.

At the sight of that youth,

the previously chaotic Northern Spirit Academy plaza instantly fell completely silent.

Gazes filled with reverence, curiosity, and shock all turned toward Qing Luo.

The Heaven Fusion Realm...

The Qing Luo who had slain such an existence now stood before them.

They all found it somewhat unreal.

"Qing Luo, how are you? Were you hurt?"

"You really did slay Liu Jingtian..."

"Good! You're a genius who came from our Northern Spirit Academy. You haven't disgraced us."

Before the familiar students from the past could step forward,

Dean Xiao, Teacher Xi, and Teacher Mo hurried over to surround Qing Luo, speaking to him in flattering tones.

Tang Qian'er hesitated when she saw this...

The foot she had stepped forward with quietly withdrew.

Unknowingly, the youth who had once fought alongside them had already left them far behind.

They and Qing Luo were now people from entirely different worlds!

Just then,

they saw Elder Hao, who had always held himself aloof, actually walk toward Qing Luo as well.

When Elder Hao appeared,

Elder Xiao, Teacher Xi, and Teacher Mo tactfully made way for him.

"With your current strength, you're not far from the Heavenly Pass Realm now, are you..."

After assessing Qing Luo's Spiritual Energy, Elder Hao said something astonishing.

"Spirit Soul Peak Realm. I should be close to breaking through into the Heavenly Pass Realm!"

Qing Luo did not hide it.

He had already killed Liu Jingtian, so there was no need to conceal his strength.

"Spirit Soul Peak Realm..."

"How long has it even been? Didn't he just break through to the Spirit Soul Realm?"

"What a terrifying cultivation speed!"

Upon hearing this,

the surrounding students all gaped in astonishment, standing frozen as though struck by lightning.

Even Dean Xiao and the others looked at Qing Luo with complicated expressions.

Good heavens!

He was already at the Spirit Soul Peak Realm...

Compared to Qing Luo, they had cultivated for half their lives and were still in the Spirit Soul Realm. They seemed utterly incompetent.

"Spirit Soul Peak Realm..."

"Your talent... is even more terrifying than those Spirit Road Kings. Northern Cang Academy has truly found a treasure."

Upon hearing Qing Luo's words,

Elder Hao could not conceal the surprise and admiration in his eyes.

He had been with the Five Great Academies for so long and had received countless students, yet he had never encountered anyone as freakish as Qing Luo...

"You flatter me, Elder Hao!"

Qing Luo said with a smile.

"If I couldn't even see that much, I wouldn't be handling recruitment and reception."

With that,

Elder Hao looked toward the other students who had obtained places and said,

"Before entering the academies, you still have one final trial!"

"There, you will encounter Heaven's Pride from various continents. Trying to stand out in such a place will definitely not be easy."

At those words, Tang Qian'er and the others all revealed solemn expressions.

"You needn't worry either. Even if you fail the trial, you will be sent to other large spirit academies."

"If you're ready, step into the designated Teleportation Array."

Elder Hao pointed at the five enormous Teleportation Arrays in the center of the plaza.

Beside each Teleportation Array,

the name of its respective spirit academy had already been marked.

Qing Luo stepped forward,

arrived before the Teleportation Array representing Northern Cang Academy, and looked back at the countless expectant gazes behind him.

"Everyone, see you at the summit!"