Opening Northern Cang Hall!

It occupied most of the sky, pressing down upon the void with unmatched force, Gulp—

The scene was deeply bizarre, leaving everyone trembling in fear as they repeatedly swallowed.

Strong!

Invincible!

Unbeatably strong!

Faced with Qing Luo, countless words condensed into just three:

The Banner Carrier was strong, overwhelmingly so, beyond all challenge, a strength that transcended their current level and could only inspire worship!

Bang—

The next moment, before the stunned and astonished gazes of countless people, the Ancient Giant Finger containing unmatched power suddenly shattered in the sky.

Feeling the countless worshipful gazes upon him, Qing Luo remained indifferent, yet inwardly he enjoyed it immensely.

Sometimes, not making a move was more shocking than making one!

Qing Luo looked down at Mu Chen. "I won. All your Spiritual Energy belongs to me now!"

As he spoke, Qing Luo flicked his wrist, and an invisible force enveloped countless students.

Strands of Spiritual Energy were drawn out from their marks.

"Why should I..."

"He lost! I wasn't the one who made the bet!"

Bang—

Bang—

As the pulling force appeared, some stubborn fools tried to resist Qing Luo.

The next moment, their bodies directly shattered within this realm, forcibly eliminated by Qing Luo's overbearing methods!

With those examples before them, the subsequent extraction of Spiritual Energy went exceptionally smoothly.

Even Luo Li, Ye Qingling, and Chu Lin offered no resistance

as Qing Luo extracted their Spiritual Energy, accepting it all with bitter smiles...

As strands of Spiritual Energy flowed into his glabella, the Spiritual Energy in Qing Luo's "Four" mark rose at a terrifying speed, the dark-red glow

first gained a layer of Golden Light, then was replaced by Purple Light, until at last...

Qing Luo's glabella mark became an incomparably noble blackish-purple, with an "Eight" symbol upon it, signifying Qing Luo's formidable and terrifying strength.

Feeling the mark on his glabella, Qing Luo could not help frowning slightly.

Then, Qing Luo made a grasping motion with his hand, and the Myriad Soul Banner embedded deep within the earth veins shot back into his palm.

Qing Luo gave it a light wave, and the Spirit Souls of Three Heavens Realm spirit beasts surged forth like a parade of ghosts at night.

Before the eyes of the masses, they arrived before Mu Chen and retrieved the Heaven Grade Spirit Beast essence in his hand, returning it to the Myriad Soul Banner.

"In two days, I will open Northern Cang Hall!"

"I'll be waiting for you in Northern Cang Academy. Come challenge me!"

Qing Luo said in the manner of one standing above them, looking down upon those who looked up at him.

Then, Qing Luo left the place with the Myriad Soul Banner slung over his shoulder, chasing stars and treading moonlight...

The winds and clouds stirred, haunting dreams entwined, Stars round, earth square—the altar of the three realms.

Life and death revolved, a single gate opened; once more, the slaughtering tribulation began, washing away all worldly dust...

As Mu Chen departed, only that lazy, relaxed voice echoed over Ice Valley.

"Once more, the slaughtering tribulation began... washing away all worldly dust..."

Watching that departing figure, Luo Li murmured softly.

A glimmer of brightness appeared in her bewildered phoenix eyes, yet she became even more confused.

It was as though she had glimpsed the depths of Qing Luo's heart, yet could not grasp them.

Perhaps...

I should be like him too—fear no challenge, and find myself through battle...

"But... what does 'life and death revolved, a single gate opened' mean?"

Luo Li grew even more lost.

She could roughly understand the other lines Qing Luo had spoken before leaving. Only the third line eluded her; she could neither see through it nor comprehend it.

Though she could not figure it out for now, Luo Li seemed to have seen the path ahead of her more clearly, and recognized the fear within her heart.

She saw her own avoidance—

her avoidance of the colossal existence that was the Western Heaven War Palace!

Luo Li looked at Mu Chen. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine..."

"I'm sorry. I still couldn't do it... I disappointed you, didn't I?"

Mu Chen's voice was low and filled with self-reproach.

"No... You are who you are. No matter what happens, I will never be disappointed."

Luo Li said.

At those words, a spark returned to Mu Chen's despondent eyes. He looked at Luo Li and was just about to speak when she continued, "Because the one I've always placed my hopes on is myself!"

Mu Chen: ...

He froze on the spot, not knowing what to say.

"That would've been better than not being disappointed..."

Mu Chen muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?"

Luo Li asked.

"I'll defeat him. I definitely will—I promise you!"

Mu Chen stared stubbornly at the girl before him.

"I believe you!"

Having figured some things out, Luo Li's face blossomed with a smile. She felt that Northern Cang Academy was still quite meaningful.

"There are still two days left. First, we have to get into Northern Cang Academy!"

"Okay!"

Seeing Luo Li smile, the gloom in Mu Chen's heart was swept away.

Although he had lost to Qing Luo this time, he had also felt his own shortcomings through the battle.

And besides...

Luo Li had not come to dislike him because of it.

Qing Luo and Mu Chen came before Ye Qingling and Chu Lin.

"We're going to hunt Spirit Beasts next. Want to come with us?"

"Do we have any other choice?"

Chu Lin gave a wry smile.

"Yeah!"

Ye Qingling nodded.

"Then let's not waste any time!"

Luo Li said, taking the lead as she flew toward the depths of Ice Valley.

Although there were no Heaven Grade Spirit Beasts in Ice Valley now, there were still quite a few Earth Grade and High Grade Spirit Beasts. Obtaining Level Four marks within two days

would not be difficult for them.

"Holy crap..."

"You're even robbing these Spirit Beasts?!"

"Have some decency..."

"Let go of those Spirit Beasts!"

As Luo Li and the others flew toward the depths of Ice Valley, the Spirit Soul Realm and Spirit Wheel Realm Late Stage experts who had joined forces to watch the show earlier finally snapped back to their senses.

They flew madly toward the depths of Ice Valley, fighting over the few remaining Spirit Beasts in the valley.

For a time, Spiritual Energy boiled throughout Ice Valley, while the miserable cries of countless Spirit Beasts echoed without end...

"That was close!"

Elsewhere, after leaving Ice Valley, Qing Luo arrived atop a towering mountain range

and finally let out a long breath.

Just now...

when he had made his move, he had clearly sensed the Spirit Body Qing Yan Jing had left within Mu Chen's Cultivation Method.

Because Qing Luo had no killing intent, that wisp of Spirit Body had not been activated.

If Qing Yan Jing's Spirit Body had appeared, the losses would have outweighed the gains.

Leaving aside whether he could have survived against that Spirit Body comparable to an Earthly Sovereign, if Mu Chen found out he had such a backer, wouldn't he start looking down his nose at everyone?!

All the methods Qing Luo had used to suppress Mu Chen before would have been completely wasted.

Moreover, Luo Li might even see Mu Chen in a new light because of it and trust him even more.

Until he possessed the strength to deal with Di Sovereign-level experts, he needed to know his limits when keeping Mu Chen in check...

"Next, it's time to study the Treasure Arts I just acquired!"

Qing Luo murmured, directly sitting down cross-legged atop the mountain.

By now, all the Three Heavens Realm Spirit Beasts in the entire Northern Cang Realm were inside the Myriad Soul Banner.

As for the remaining students, he truly did not dare make a move against them.

When he had acted earlier, he could sense that the Inspector's anger was already close to bursting forth.

The upcoming trials would no longer offer him much improvement. These two Ten Fiends Treasure Arts, on the other hand, were indeed worth studying.

While Qing Luo studied the Treasure Arts, and Mu Chen, Luo Li, and the others hunted Spirit Beasts to raise their Spirit Seal levels, two days quietly passed!

Two days later, following the Route Map, Qing Luo arrived at the gathering point for this trial.

It was an open plain amid the mountains, At this moment, the vast sea of people stretched out in a dark mass as far as the eye could see, while more and more figures continued to rush over from the distance.

Waves of powerful Spiritual Energy surged into the sky.

Qing Luo spotted Luo Li, Mu Chen, Chu Lin, and the others amid the crowd.

Over the past two days, the marks between their brows had all reached Level Six.

Luo Li's mark had even returned to Level Eight.

Qing Luo rather admired that.

Sure enough, when a woman got ruthless, men had no place in it...

"Since everyone's here, let's open Northern Cang Hall!"

With that, Qing Luo activated the mark between his brows.

As the mark ignited, its already dark purple pattern suddenly erupted with a brilliant radiance.

That light resembled a beam of violet-gold brilliance.

It shot out from between his brows and pierced straight into the heavens!