Section 45

"Class dismissed."

"Goodbye, Coach Su!"

Bright sunlight streamed through the window and fell upon Su Xing, as though coating him in gold. He broke into a smile, sheathed his sword, then walked over to the sword rack and leaned his sword against it. Out of habit, he glanced at the swordsmanship points that were still being counted.

[Swordsmanship Points: Calculating (61%)]

The swordsmanship points were still being calculated.

Su Xing could not yet see the four swordsmanship points he had earned from teaching today.

But it did not matter. The progress bar had finally passed the halfway mark. At this rate, he would see the full amount by tonight at the earliest, or tomorrow at the latest.

Then it would be time to allocate points again.

At that thought, Su Xing's smile widened.

After leaning his sword against the rack, he brushed the dust from his clothes and looked up at the sword hall, which was nearly fully repaired.

He had to admit, those workers were incredibly efficient. In just a few days, they had sealed up the massive hole in the sword hall again. Only the final bit remained before the work would be completely finished.

Suddenly, the phone in Su Xing's pocket began ringing with an alarm.

Su Xing pulled out his phone, swiped the screen without even looking at it, and headed outside.

He had specifically set this alarm for only one purpose: to remind himself that it was time to visit Su Yu at the hospital.

The Spirit Cult attack had already ended.

The turmoil it caused had also been forcibly suppressed by the special organization.

At least, Su Xing had not seen any trending searches or posts online about that Spirit Cult attack. Cang City First People's Hospital, the epicenter of the incident, had also fully resumed operations.

The Spirit Cult attack was like a pebble dropped into a great lake. It stirred only a few ripples before the water settled again, as if nothing had ever happened.

By the roadside, Su Xing hailed a ride through his phone. Less than ten minutes later, a black car stopped in front of him. Before Su Xing could open the door, the driver's window slowly rolled down first. The driver stuck his head out, glanced at Su Xing, and said with a smile,

"Yo, it's you again, brother?"

"Yeah. I've gotten you twice now. Guess we're pretty fated."

Su Xing smiled, opened the door, and got into the back seat. After confirming the last digits of his phone number with the driver, he heard the man speak again.

"Brother, you look way better than you did a few days ago. Got everything sorted out?"

"Yeah, it went smoothly. Thanks for asking, man."

"Heh, just like I said. How could anyone be driven to death by their problems? When I saw your face while driving you the other day, it scared the hell out of me. Now you look like a handsome young lad again."

"What a shame, though. My kid's a boy, or I could've introduced you two."

Once the driver learned that Su Xing's problem had been resolved, his chatty nature erupted in full force. He kept talking to Su Xing the whole way.

Su Xing did not find him annoying, though, and chatted with him for over half an hour. Only when they arrived did the driver wave farewell reluctantly, as though they had known each other for years.

Cang City First People's Hospital.

Having been here once already, Su Xing knew the way and soon arrived beside Su Yu's bed. When Su Yu saw him, he pointed at the apples on the table and softly said,

"Bro, why are you here again? Haven't I told you several times not to come?"

"I had nothing else to do anyway."

Su Xing did not hesitate to pick up an apple from the table and take a bite. In a low voice, he asked, "How is it? Anything going on?"

"What could possibly be going on? I'm recovering really well now."

Hearing Su Xing's question, Su Yu casually picked up an apple and took a bite. Then his voice suddenly sounded beside Su Xing's ear.

"There actually is something."

"Bro, have you ever heard of the Spirit Realm?"

"No."

Though Su Xing had never heard of the Spirit Realm, it sounded related to the Spirit Cult. His attention immediately sharpened as he carefully listened to what Su Yu had to say next.

"It's a bit complicated... Bro, do you remember I'm going to the capital soon?"

"Of course I remember."

Su Xing nodded, then heard Su Yu continue.

"Actually, it isn't just Cang City. Nearly every city will be sending people to the capital to assist the special organization there."

"Because the capital's special organization discovered a secret realm that is about to emerge. After investigation, they eventually discovered that this secret realm may be a small world left behind by a demonic cultivator before spiritual energy ran dry, intended for a future return to the human world."

"A secret realm? A small world?"

Su Xing was puzzled. Then, keenly sensing that this secret realm might be connected to the Spirit Cult, he asked,

"This demonic cultivator... wouldn't happen to be the one worshipped by the Spirit Cult, would it?"

"Yes, it's very possible."

"A lot of people in the organization have started wondering whether this secret realm is the same thing as the Spirit Realm mentioned by the Spirit Cult."

Su Yu let out a heavy breath.

"Bro, if the Spirit Realm really is that secret realm, then we all need to be even more careful from now on."

"No matter how the organization investigated before, they could never understand why the Spirit Cult kept trying so desperately to kill me. It simply made no sense."

"Now... I finally understand."

"It's because of my Judgment Sequence. I can trade part of my lifespan to directly take out an enemy. The stronger the enemy, the more lifespan it requires, but it will definitely kill them."

"The one worshipped by the Spirit Cult is afraid of me, afraid that the moment it revives, I'll trade my life to take it down. That's why it wants me dead before the Spirit Realm descends. That's why Spirit Cult priests keep coming after us without end, why someone is always trying to kill me."

At that point, Su Yu said no more.

Su Xing completely understood what Su Yu meant. It meant that during this final stretch before the Spirit Realm descended, the Spirit Cult might go crazier than ever before.

The grand priests, bishops, and archbishops who had been hiding one after another would all emerge, all to wear Su Yu down and kill him so that the one worshipped by the Spirit Cult could return to the human world more easily.

At that thought, Su Xing narrowed his eyes. He glanced at the steadily rising progress bar, murderous intent spreading from him as he muttered,

"Why is this Spirit Cult like cockroaches? You just can't kill them all!"

"Bro, what did you say?"

"Nothing. Xiao Yu, you're not allowed to use your Judgment Sequence again. I'll protect you."

Su Xing patted Su Yu on the shoulder and spoke softly.

Su Yu knew that nothing was certain. He could not say when he might use the Judgment Sequence again. But at that moment, he merely nodded without saying anything more.

Dragon Sky Building.

Dragon Sky Building, the base of the Spirit Cult priests, was now empty. Only one assistant priest remained, sitting there with unfocused eyes as he stared at the ceiling.

He had thought the Divine Wind Plan would surely succeed, but instead every priest had died miserably. As a mere assistant priest, he had no idea how he was supposed to go on living.

Just as despair overtook him and he was about to jump from the building to end it all, the phone lying beside him suddenly lit up.

His right hand instinctively answered it. Then he heard a hoarse, grating voice from the phone.

"Heh heh, do you want to live?"

"Heh heh, do you want to live?"

The harsh, hoarse voice was like water flowing over gravel, trickling into his ears bit by bit and making them ache.

But hearing those words was like grasping at a lifeline. He hurriedly dropped to his knees, gripped the phone with both hands, and asked excitedly,

"Is... is... is that you, Lord Grand Priest?"

"I can do anything, anything at all. Please, you have to let me live!"

The assistant priest could not actually tell which grand priest the caller was.

At his rank in the Spirit Cult, merely coming into contact with priests was already the limit. Someone at the level of a grand priest was far beyond his reach. But at a time like this, the only person who could contact him through an internal Spirit Cult number could only be a grand priest. So he immediately fell to his knees and begged.

"Don't worry. As long as you obediently listen to me, I'll let you live."

The hoarse voice softened considerably. The person on the other end seemed very pleased with the reaction of this insignificant assistant priest and added gently,

"Little one, are there any other living people over there?"

Hearing the grand priest's question, the assistant priest seemed to find an outlet for his emotions. He poured everything out frantically, telling the other party how terrifying the mysterious expert and the special organization were, how so many priests had all died miserably without a single survivor.

"Ah, that is rather unfortunate."

"It will need manpower when it returns soon."

"Never mind, we can discuss the future later. Since I have returned, the task it assigned will naturally be completed perfectly. Come to my side first. As for everything else, we can discuss it later."

As soon as the words fell, the phone screen in the assistant priest's hand went dark.