Battle of Glory

"Brother Feng, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Gao Hai, standing behind Lin Feng in line, seemed to notice something off about him and asked curiously.

"Nothing. Just a little dizzy."

"Oh." Gao Hai turned to glance at Yage, pointed at Lin Feng, and whispered, "Brother Feng seems to be in a bad mood. Why don't you go comfort him?"

In Gao Hai's eyes, Lin Feng was clearly dejected and upset because he had failed to fuse with a Demon Spirit. Yage, meanwhile, had fused with a Bewitching Butterfly and soared to great heights in a single leap. It would have been fine without comparison, but once compared, it only made things hurt more.

Gao Hai wanted to comfort Lin Feng, but he did not know how to begin, so he could only signal to Yage.

Seeing Lin Feng's grave expression, Yage—who had fused with the Bewitching Butterfly and was still in her Demon Transformation state—parted her lips slightly. Her pink pupils flickered as though she wanted to say something, but in the end, she said nothing.

After waiting in line for over half an hour, it was finally Lin Feng's turn. With a trace of unease, he stepped forward, only to find the Demon Mirror completely empty.

"Lin Feng, sixteen years old, third-year student at Jiangxin Middle School, Body Cultivation Seventh Stage..."

After his identity information was recorded, Lin Feng was led away.

"The Evil Sealing Seal contains a special space. It seems to have blocked the Demon Mirror's sensing ability." The tense Lin Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself.

"The Evil Sealing Seal can actually block the Demon Mirror. If handled properly, this could be a way to make money."

Lin Feng secretly mused.

Nowadays, all kinds of rare and precious secret techniques had nowhere to hide before the Demon Mirror. No one dared to take such risks, and there were probably only a handful of people who knew the Evil Sealing Seal. No one else knew that it could actually block the Demon Mirror.

This secret technique and information alone were worth at least tens of millions.

Lin Feng had considered selling the information. But after thinking it over, he quickly abandoned the tempting idea.

After all, if something went wrong during the sale, someone might guess that he had captured a rare Demon Spirit. Then the Nightmare inside him would be in danger.

Moreover, the Evil Sealing Seal demanded an extremely high level of control over spiritual power and spirit power. Lin Feng in his previous life had been an Eighth-Rank Martial Artist, seasoned and experienced, which was why he could use it successfully. A sixteen-year-old peer could not possibly cast it, let alone imprison a Demon Spirit.

After Lin Feng, it was Gao Hai's turn for testing. A muscular Ox Demon appeared inside the Demon Mirror. After Gao Hai came Yage. She was still in her Demon Transformation state, so everyone knew that she had fused with an Eighth-Rank Bewitching Butterfly.

Standing before the Demon Mirror, the girl basked in everyone's envious gazes, a faint smile appearing at the corner of her lips.

Before everyone's eyes, a Brilliant Butterfly Demon with Seven-Colored Wings and an alluring aura slowly appeared.

The moment the Butterfly Demon appeared, it triggered wave after wave of astonished exclamations.

"Yage, sixteen years old, third-year student at Jiangxin Middle School, Body Cultivation Stage Six, refined an Eighth-Rank Bewitching Butterfly..."

As soon as Yage left after her information was recorded, the representatives of the major martial halls and clubs waiting there all swarmed forward, saying impatiently, "Miss Yage, please join our Ruiyi Club. We have prepared a contract worth ten million for you."

"Miss Ya, our Hurricane Martial Hall is an established martial hall in River City. As long as you sign, we can immediately provide you with a residence, along with a five-million New Dollar signing bonus."

"Classmate Yage, you should join our Lightning Club instead. Our club is an A-Class Club. We have prepared an eight-year, forty-million New Dollar contract for you. And once you graduate from university, we will prepare an endorsement contract worth ten million for you."

"Our Jazz Club has prepared a ten-year, one-hundred-million New Dollar contract for you. Other income will be split sixty-forty, with sixty percent going to you. The terms are absolutely excellent. Your compensation will be exactly the same as superstar Wang Jue's was back then."

The major martial halls and clubs all extended olive branches. Yage, who had never experienced anything like this before, was clearly at a loss. But even if she had never eaten pork, she had seen pigs run. The clever girl naturally understood the principle of holding out for a better price. She did not agree to anyone's offer. Instead, she politely accepted everyone's business cards and said with a smile, "Thank you for your favor. I need to go home and discuss it with my family."

Naturally, this answer did not satisfy them, so some began raising their offers. Yet Yage still did not agree in the end. Although they had not gotten the result they wanted, the girl's respectful attitude left them feeling quite pleased.

"Classmate Yage, I am the person in charge of Juxing Club's River City branch. We invite you to join us!" Just then, a voice rang out, and everyone abruptly fell silent.

Juxing Club!

Though no terms had been mentioned, the name alone was enough.

It was a club that could place among the top three in the Battle of Glory every year.

"No way, even Juxing Club has made a move."

"Damn it, Juxing Club is getting involved too. What's left to compete for? Let's all go home."

Although Yage had rejected them, the clubs had not given up and had planned to contact her privately. But upon hearing Juxing Club's invitation, they immediately gave up on the idea.

Juxing Club could be called one of the great noble houses among clubs!

It was no exaggeration to say that entering Juxing Club was even harder than entering one of the three great Hero Academies. Even outstanding graduates of those three Hero Academies found it difficult to join this club.

Although Yage's Eighth-Rank Bewitching Butterfly was very rare, and its value and special effects were comparable to a Ninth-grade Demon Spirit, she should not have been enough to catch their eye.

Their targets should have been the blond-haired youth and Ye Qiu.

Only geniuses like them, who had refined a Ninth-grade Six-winged Phantom Python and the Thorn Demon Dragon ranked on the Earth List, could be recruited!

"Why are you so excited?"

Lin Feng found it amusing as he looked at Gao Hai beside him. The latter was trembling with excitement, and his bull-headed face had flushed bright red!

Was there really any need to be this excited?

It was not like he was the one being invited.

"You're asking why I'm so excited? That's Juxing Club!"

Gao Hai turned around, clenched his fists, and said in disbelief.

It was now Year 2389 AD. Since Year 2056, when tiny rifts began appearing all over Earth, the world had begun to change.

At first, those rifts were tiny, as thin as sheets of paper, so no one knew what lay within them.

But as the rifts appeared and gradually expanded, they brought with them a strange energy.

Humans named this energy spirit power.

The appearance of spirit power greatly enhanced human physical abilities. Martial arts reemerged, and all people entered an age of cultivation. Yet at the same time, beasts also underwent mutation—or rather, evolution.

Countless birds and beasts evolved into demon beasts, possessing all manner of powerful and bizarre abilities. Compared with humans, demon beasts held an innate advantage in physical strength. The savagery and bloodlust in their blood drove them to begin attacking humanity.

Against powerful demon beasts, ordinary thermal weapons were of little use. Even when nuclear bombs were used regardless of the consequences, some demon beasts could not be killed by them. Some even mutated and grew stronger as a result.

Only powerful martial artists could kill top-tier demon beasts, but clearly, demon beasts vastly outnumbered martial artists.

Back then, the sky was hidden beneath flocks of flying creatures, and the ground was dyed red with blood. Humanity became homeless dogs—and food.

In just three years, humanity's population plummeted from nine billion to five billion. Some small nations were wiped out entirely. It was not until a martial artist with a wild flash of inspiration fused Demon Spirits into the dantian that humanity escaped the fate of extinction.

With Demon Spirits entering the body and being refined, humans could wield part of a demon beast's power, flying through the skies, burrowing into the earth, and doing nearly anything.

The emergence of Demon Spirit Masters gave humanity a foothold. They gradually grew stronger and eventually drove the demon beasts out of their homeland.

During those years of disaster, humanity united as never before and ultimately drove away the demon beasts.

But not long after the fighting ended, as the rifts gradually grew large enough to allow people to enter, humanity's peace was shattered.

It turned out that beyond those rifts lay an even vaster and more mysterious world.

It was named the Otherworld.

Earth's spirit power had surged out from there, while the Otherworld's spiritual energy was more than three times as dense as Earth's. All sorts of heavenly treasures were born there, along with countless mysterious demon beasts, some of which had never been recorded on Earth.

This meant that the Otherworld was a natural treasure trove, and humanity began to fight over it.

In just ten years, humanity fell into chaotic warfare. Powerful martial artists and Demon Spirit Masters from every nation slaughtered one another in the Otherworld. War erupted, the world population dropped by another billion, and demon beasts ultimately found an opening. The Battle of Dawn broke out and nearly destroyed humanity, only finally ending after every nation developed Guardian Artifacts.

To avoid repeating the same disaster, every nation jointly signed an agreement and created a game.

That game was the Battle of Glory.

Each nation's ranking in the Battle of Glory determined the division of territory in the Otherworld, the allocation of resources, the rights to research scientific achievements, and even a nation's voice and voting rights among other countries.

That was why, in this era, actors and singers were merely diversions in life. The only true stars were the competitors of Glory.

They were the glory of their cities, and the glory of their nations.