"Good luck with the assessment." "Good luck, Sister!"
"Mm, Brother Ningwei, Nuxin, don't worry."
After Mu Nujiao left, Mu Nuxin took out her laptop, put on her glasses, and transformed into an intellectual young woman working from home.
"I'm heading out too."
"Okay. Will Brother Ningwei be back for lunch?"
"I'll probably eat out."
"Then let's go out for dinner tonight to celebrate Sister passing the assessment."
"Sure."
After leaving home, Mu Ningwei turned into a shadow and darted swiftly between the buildings. As he approached Pearl Academy's assessment area, he appeared atop a high-rise.
The wind swept past, making Mu Ningwei's clothes flap loudly. Dim stars lit up within his shadow, secretly forming a star map, while magical power turned his eyes dark and profound.
Dark Vision!
His field of vision became a bleak expanse of white, with countless black dots lurking within the buildings.
Those were things tainted by Dark Energy.
They could be mages, demon beasts, or even remnants left behind by either.
However, Shadow Mages were rare, and there could not possibly be so many demon beasts in a city.
Therefore, they had to be Black Beast Demons or followers of the Black Pepper Court.
"There are so many."
Mu Ningwei's expression turned somewhat complicated.
Back then, when he had wanted to prevent Wen Tai's death, he had actually wanted to stop Ye Chang from becoming a Cardinal.
But Wen Tai had insisted on dying, so Mu Ningwei had tried to resolve Ye Chang's obsession beforehand.
Yet after Ye Chang learned of Wen Tai's intentions, she had instead broken down even further and gone mad. After all, Wen Tai's actions had undoubtedly been a betrayal of her.
Abandoned by her lover, Ye Chang had still gone insane.
"What a pity. I couldn't kill her back then."
"Indeed."
"Who's there?"
Mu Ningwei spun around. An elegant, beautiful woman had appeared on the rooftop behind him. Her eyes were filled with crazed savagery, and her red lips were stretched into a smile that exposed rows of ghostly white teeth.
"Salang..."
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Salang approached step by step, her intense, crazed gaze carrying killing intent so tangible it felt like cold, sticky ice clinging to Mu Ningwei's vital points.
His brow, heart, throat...
Mu Ningwei gripped a black cross in his hand. The gesture seemed to anger Salang. She stopped, her vicious smile fading as her gaze darkened.
"So you really did want to kill me back then."
"Should I feel fortunate? Without Ash Riya stopping you, I might have died. After all, neither she nor I would have imagined that you intended to kill us."
Mu Ningwei said, "What a pity."
Salang sneered. "No pity at all. Ash Riya has always had terrible judgment. She actually drove you all the way to the Divine Land."
Mu Ningwei took a deep breath. "So, did you come to kill me?"
"Eventually, but not today."
"Then what do you want?"
"To mock you."
Delight flashed through Salang's eyes. "I chose the wrong man, and you chose the wrong woman too. You always regarded Ash Riya as your future wife, didn't you? Yet she stabbed you in the back. Hehehehe."
Mu Ningwei merely said, "Oh. At least I was able to cut my losses in time. There are countless good girls in the Divine Land; sooner or later, I'll find someone suitable. But you invested too much. Once your defenses broke, you couldn't accept it and fell into this disgusting state."
"Madness? Terror? You use them to hide your battered, fragile heart, taking others' lives and savoring their fear to maintain that pathetic self-esteem of yours."
"You really are trash through and through. Sooner or later, you'll die in a garbage dump and be burned to ashes by the fire of your sins."
Salang covered her mouth and laughed. "Foolish. How could someone like you possibly understand me?"
"Then take your hand away from your mouth."
Salang concealed her gritted teeth, turned around, and vanished into the shadows.
Mu Ningwei was somewhat puzzled.
What exactly was Salang's goal? Had she merely come to see him?
"Why, why, why can he still be so pure, so righteous, so far above everyone else?!"
In a gloomy basement, Salang clenched her fists tightly. She bit down on her lips so hard that blood flowed, yet she paid it no mind. Her eyes brimmed with madness.
Yan Qiu stood silently nearby.
"Huff... ha... huff... ha..."
Salang gasped heavily, still unable to understand. Mu Ningwei had been abandoned by Ash Riya. Shouldn't he have collapsed like she had, broken apart, and wanted revenge against the world?
"Mother, don't be angry."
A gentle, pleasant voice sounded, and Salang's rage was miraculously soothed.
"Xin Xia, you're here."
Blue Bat pushed a wheelchair closer. Sitting in it was a tranquil, princess-like girl, who said with a smile,
"Brother Ningwei was precocious from a very young age. Nothing in this world should be capable of making him collapse. Sister Ash Riya only knows how to cry and throw tantrums at home after doing something wrong. She's far too inexperienced."
Yan Qiu bowed respectfully.
"Lady Xin Xia."
Ye Xin Xia nodded cutely. "Sister Yan Qiu."
Salang said coldly, "It seems there's no way to bring Mu Ningwei into our camp. We can only consider killing him."
"No, Mother. We all know how formidable Brother Ningwei is. Especially the Divine Soul within me—it told me that Brother Ningwei bears the blessing of its original master."
"He has already come into contact with beings of that level. Sooner or later, he will stand at the pinnacle of the Human World. The Holy City, Parthenon, Magic Association... their competition means nothing. The most important thing is that whichever faction Brother Ningwei supports will dominate the world."
Salang narrowed her eyes. "But he can never join us. We must eliminate him before he has fully grown."
Ye Xin Xia shook her head. "Although Brother Ningwei has always been one of Father's people, he never abandoned me. Back then, he even wanted to adopt me. I was simply the one who chose Mother."
"I have already lost Father. I don't want to lose any more family."
"Besides, we may not necessarily become enemies."
"I'm very grateful to Sister Ash Riya for giving us the chance to obtain Brother Ningwei. She's such a good girl, so willing to give."
"Sister Blue Bat."
Blue Bat knelt beside Ye Xin Xia's feet, her expression devout. "My God!"
Ye Xin Xia's smile was holy and serene. "Sister Blue Bat, please approach Brother Ningwei. Use your beauty, your identity, everything you possess. This is my request."
"I obey the divine decree!"
"Are those the ones?"
Mu Ningwei hid within the shadows as a young man and woman passed right by him. They crouched outside a half-abandoned processing plant, eavesdropping on the voices inside.
The Black Pepper Court followers were hidden rather carefully. This young pair wore Pearl Academy uniforms, yet instead of properly attending their assessment, they had headed straight for the followers. They had clearly discovered something.
Two Intermediate Mages still in school, charging head-on into the Black Pepper Court...
Such courage was one of a kind. Other than Xu Zhaoting and his girlfriend, it could not have been anyone else.
Inside the processing plant, several gray-robed priests were discussing how to capture Mo Fan.
"Lord wants us to seize the target alive. Failure is not permitted. You should all understand the consequences of failure."
The half-abandoned food processing plant was filled with foul-smelling rotten meat. Black Beast Demons were demon beasts with an overwhelmingly vile stench, so staying here conveniently concealed their odor.
The gray-robed priests stared at the Black Beast Demons' sharp claws and shuddered violently.
Normally, the Black Beast Demons were their slaves. Ordering them to brutally murder others was what they enjoyed most.
If the mission failed, Lord would take away the Black Beast Demons and have them sliced to death!
No one wanted to be sliced to death, so the priests hurriedly nodded to show they understood.
Mu Ningwei stood with his arms crossed within the leader's shadow and keenly heard the sound of someone feeling their way closer from afar.
Xu Zhaoting was even speaking quietly.
"Lulu, stand here and don't move. I'll go check things out. If anything happens, run immediately."
"Zhaoting, who are they? Why are you listening to them?"
"My enemies!"
Xu Zhaoting began to approach.
Mu Ningwei: "..."
Kid, have you always been this fearless?
Before you continue