You Saw It All, Didn't You?

Jiang Chuan asked in surprise, "How could there not be? Ling Aoshuang has an S-rank talent—she was Tianyuan City's top Awakener this year! Could it be that even an S-rank talent doesn't meet your admission standards?"

Xu Yinyin also found it strange. "S-rank talent? Impossible. The list Tianyuan City submitted this year didn't mention her at all!"

"Stellar Crown Academy has always offered special admission benefits to S-rank talents. Not only do they not take up a city's enrollment quota, but their tuition is fully waived!"

"I was specially admitted myself!"

"Perhaps..."

"She gave up the chance to enroll herself?"

Jiang Chuan frowned slightly.

Could Ling Aoshuang really have given up her admission slot in order to join the Darkmoon Battle Group?

That seemed unlikely.

An S-rank battle group might be powerful, but it was completely incomparable to Stellar Crown Academy.

That was a top-tier force that had produced several Heavenly Generals, with even a serving Heavenly General personally acting as its principal!

Whether emotionally or logically,

Ling Aoshuang should never have chosen the latter.

Unless

there were circumstances he didn't know about...

After thinking about it for a long time, Jiang Chuan suddenly laughed at himself. What did Ling Aoshuang's choice have to do with him? They had only spoken twice. What right did he have to worry about her future?

"You said earlier that each city submits its own enrollment list. That means it can still be changed before it's finalized, right?"

Jiang Chuan asked.

"Mm..."

Xu Yinyin thought for a moment. "Because of all kinds of unexpected incidents, there are indeed many personnel changes every year."

Jiang Chuan immediately perked up at that. A small place like Tianyuan City did not even have many high-level secret realms.

If he could take someone else's admission slot

and go to Stellar Crown Academy,

his prospects would be far better than staying here.

However,

it probably would not be easy to pull off.

Each city only had five slots a year, and the interests involved were too extensive to shake easily. He would have to plan carefully.

Huang Yi's body had already gone cold.

Jiang Chuan moved him over and placed him with the other corpses, extracting his talent along the way.

[Extraction successful: Obtained talent—Fatal Strike (B-rank)!]

[Fatal Strike: B-rank, one star. When your attack strikes an enemy's weak point, it will deal a critical hit with a 100% chance. Initial critical damage: 200%]

This talent was quite good. Striking a weak point guaranteed a critical hit, and combined with Yi's guaranteed-hit effect, he could basically achieve a 100% critical-hit rate!

As he moved the bodies, Jiang Chuan suddenly asked, "By the way, what's your talent? I'm just curious. You don't have to tell me."

Xu Yinyin pursed her lips and said, "My talent is Mind Blast, S-rank."

Jiang Chuan raised a brow. "Sounds pretty powerful."

He was not merely flattering her.

Any talent related to the mind or spirit was inherently superior to others.

Because there were very few means of defending against mental attacks in the Source Realm.

The most famous example

was a sixth-tier human mental-talent user who had once traded blows head-on with an eighth-tier alien king and taken them down together!

After that,

the Federation raised the ratings of all mental-type talents.

Xu Yinyin lowered her gaze. "It's just a shame I haven't developed this talent far enough. Otherwise, I wouldn't have let that beast Lin Yueming take advantage of me..."

Jiang Chuan said nothing more. He could help distract Xu Yinyin, but she would ultimately have to walk out from beneath the shadow of this herself.

He gathered some dry wood and piled the bodies on top of it.

"Do you have fire?"

He turned and asked.

Xu Yinyin was feeling a little downcast. "Senior, can't we bury them? When I return, I want to notify their parents. At least then they'll be able to find their bodies."

Jiang Chuan said, "Beasts have keen noses. No matter how deep you bury the bodies, they'll dig them up. Cremation is the best option."

Upon hearing that, Xu Yinyin sniffled and took out a fire-starting tool. "Let me do it."

The dry wood caught fire easily.

Flames rose up,

gradually consuming the bodies.

The emotions she had been suppressing surged forth at that moment. Exhausted in both body and mind, Xu Yinyin swayed. Her foot slipped, and she instinctively reached out to grab Jiang Chuan's arm.

The moment she touched him,

her face went from pale to deathly white in a fraction of a second.

At the same time,

a system notification automatically appeared before Jiang Chuan's eyes.

It was not because of anything he did deliberately, but instinct. When a target was close enough, Universal Extraction would automatically scan for things on them that could be extracted.

[Detected extractable talent: Mind Perception (S-rank)!]

[Mind Perception: S-rank, one star. Through physical contact, you can sense the target's current intense emotions and subconscious thoughts. The longer the contact, the deeper the perception.]

The clearing fell silent.

Only the blazing fire crackled and popped.

Jiang Chuan fell silent, while Xu Yinyin stood frozen from head to toe, not even daring to move. She feared that any unusual action might anger Jiang Chuan.

Jiang Chuan suddenly understood what Xu Yinyin had said earlier.

If she had developed her talent deeply enough,

Lin Yueming would never have succeeded.

That was right.

If her talent had been just a little sharper, she could have sensed Lin Yueming's thoughts in advance and completely prevented him from making a move.

After a long while,

Jiang Chuan sighed helplessly. "You saw it all, didn't you?"

Xu Yinyin jerked her head up as if shocked by electricity, her lips trembling. "No! Senior... I-I didn't see anything."

"You're lying."

Jiang Chuan took a step forward. He did not appear aggressive, yet Xu Yinyin felt as though a mountain were pressing down on her.

She subconsciously took another step back, only for her back to hit a tree. There was nowhere left to retreat.

Jiang Chuan stared at her expressionlessly.

Xu Yinyin broke down.

Why was her life so miserable? She had just escaped the wolf's jaws, only to walk straight into a tiger's den!

She pleaded pitifully, "Senior, you're a good person. I know you won't kill me!... I swear in the name of the Source Realm that I won't reveal a single word of your secret!"

The Source Realm had a spirit.

Swearing by the name of this realm was the most binding oath for Professionals.

But Jiang Chuan could not let someone who knew his secret leave.

He was not sure how much Xu Yinyin had seen.

But whether it was his identity as a transmigrator, his rule-level talent, or his Apex of Ten Thousand Races achievement, any one of them could bring about his utter destruction.

He did not dare take that gamble.

A deep crimson glow appeared in Jiang Chuan's hand. "Since you've seen my secret, you should understand that I can't let you leave."

"However, I'm not some demon who enjoys slaughtering innocents."

"So I'll give you two choices."

"First, bind yourself to a contract with me. I guarantee that I won't interfere too much with your life."

"If necessary, I can even share my strength with you. You should know how strong I am. I'm nothing like trash such as Lin Yueming."

Jiang Chuan stopped there.

Even if he did not state the second option, Xu Yinyin surely knew what the outcome would be.

"Senior..."

Xu Yinyin looked at Jiang Chuan with wide, watery eyes. Her expression was fragile, and her appearance pitiful.

The moment Jiang Chuan let his guard down, she suddenly turned and ran!

Jiang Chuan could have reacted, but he did not stop her. He allowed Xu Yinyin to run a hundred meters before stepping after her. "It seems you've made your choice."