Almost succeeded

"Let's go. It's time to head to the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Tournament."

Yesterday, Jiang Li had, for once, not replaced sleep with meditation. Instead, he had enjoyed a good night's rest.

Early this morning, he began putting on his equipment.

The Fourth Order Spirit Demon Equipment, the Radiant Armor, was light armor. While providing considerable defense, it also preserved the wearer's mobility to a great extent, and its equipment skill was defensive.

As standard-issue armor, its quality could be considered average.

Aside from that, the only piece of equipment Jiang Li possessed was a Light of Judgment, which was also Spirit Demon Equipment.

As for Qian Renxue, her equipment was even simpler. Had Jiang Li not insisted that she put on a suit of Spirit Demon Equipment, the Radiant Armor, she would not have wanted any equipment at all.

Before taking part in the Demon Hunt Squad selection, they still needed to secure an entry ticket.

Each person had to kill five Demon Race soldiers to qualify for the main competition at the Temple Alliance.

Throughout this process, an Inspector dispatched by the Alliance would watch from the sidelines at all times. Unless they encountered a life-or-death crisis, he would not intervene.

Once the Inspector intervened, it meant their mission had failed.

There were six participants this time.

They were Long Haochen, Li Xin, Jiang Li, Lin Jialu, Chen Si, and Chen Chen.

His junior fellow disciple, Long Haochen, naturally needed no introduction. They could not have been more familiar with each other.

Li Xin was no stranger either. Her father seemed to be Haoyue City's Military Commander, while she herself was a Fourth Order Knight.

Lin Jialu was an ice Mage, while Chen Si and Chen Chen both came from the Warrior Temple.

Haoyue City was a medium-sized city. Of the Six Great Temples, only the Knight Temple, Warrior Temple, and Magic Temple had established branches here.

Apart from him, the other participants could all be considered scions of influential families.

Although he had lived in Haoyue City for many years, Jiang Li rarely dealt with these people.

The reason was simple: he had never had the time before. He had either been training hard or fighting lone members of the Demon Race with Ye Hua accompanying him to hone his strength. After contracting with Qian Renxue, he had kept busy, never stopping for a moment.

There was supposed to have been a banquet last night, hosted by several of Haoyue City's major powers, with the purpose of explaining the qualifications for entering the Demon Hunt Squad competition to them.

Nalan Shu had sent someone to deliver an invitation to Jiang Li, but Jiang Li had not attended.

It was not that he had no affection for this place, nor was he being arrogant or anything of the sort. It was simply that Qian Renxue had been trying something with him yesterday, and they had run into a little trouble.

Once they had resolved it and checked the time, the banquet had probably already begun, so they had not gone.

After putting on all his equipment and taking his belongings, Jiang Li left just like that.

He had already sold the residence he had previously purchased not long ago.

His thinking was simple. Once he left this time, there was no telling when he would return to Haoyue City.

Any money saved was money saved.

"Let's go. Let me see the geniuses of your continent."

At the sight of the fully equipped Jiang Li, a gleam appeared in Qian Renxue's eyes.

Her mood instantly brightened somewhat.

She had not paid much attention in everyday life. Only after seeing him dressed like this today did she realize that Jiang Li was actually so handsome.

As it turned out, Qian Renxue was a sucker for good looks.

How good-looking Jiang Li was depended on whom he was compared with.

In delicate beauty and refinement, he fell short of Long Haochen, but in other respects, he had a slight edge over him.

Jiang Li was tall and well-built without being bulky, and gentleness and ruthlessness existed together in him.

These two entirely different qualities not only failed to seem discordant, but instead lent him an inexplicable attraction and allure.

As for his features, they were indeed not particularly eye-catching at first glance, but overall, they deserved an eight out of ten.

If the current Long Haochen was still a cute, exquisitely featured little boy, then Jiang Li was a spirited young man brimming with youthful vigor.

"The greatest geniuses are right here with us."

Jiang Li smiled faintly. Naturally, he was referring to Long Haochen and Qian Renxue.

And he, Jiang Li, was now a genius as well.

"Now that's something I like hearing."

Jiang Li and Qian Renxue walked side by side, talking as they went.

Naturally, they were discussing yesterday's attempt at Blood Pact summoning.

Before taking part in the Demon Hunt Squad Selection Competition, Qian Renxue had returned to the Douluo Continent once. After all, she would be staying on the Holy Demon Continent for a long time, so she had gone back to let her family know and spare them the worry.

After returning to the Douluo Continent, Qian Renxue had thought of something. Her previous attempt to use Reverse Summoning on Jiang Li had failed.

Then, if she tried again now, would it succeed?

After all, their Equal Contract had now evolved into a Blood Pact. Not only that, Jiang Li's cultivation had improved, and the connection between them had grown stronger. She had also studied and deepened her understanding of the Blood Pact further. Perhaps it could succeed?

This attempt really had come close to succeeding.

Had the distance not been too great, Jiang Li might already have been on the Douluo Continent at this moment.

Blood Pact summoning was indeed feasible. During the process, Qian Renxue's own characteristics, power, and rules had protected Jiang Li, keeping him from harm.

But the distance was too great, and it had ultimately failed.

Instead, it had nearly trapped Jiang Li in unstable space.

Had Qian Daoliu not interrupted the Reverse Summoning from Qian Renxue's end in time, something might really have gone wrong.

"Don't be discouraged. Once you and I break through to the Ninth Order, or perhaps the divine level, even if we're separated by a starry expanse, with the Blood Pact, we might be able to summon each other with a single thought."

"Besides, didn't you say your family has already deciphered most of those Elf Clan writings?"

Although yesterday's Reverse Summoning had failed, Jiang Li was still very happy.

As long as summoning could succeed, it was merely a matter of the conditions being insufficient.

"Become a god?"

At the mention of gods, a glint of determination appeared in Qian Renxue's eyes.

She firmly believed that she would definitely become a god.

While Jiang Li and Qian Renxue were heading to the meeting point, Long Haochen and the others had already gathered.

"Haochen, soon, soon!"

"We'll get to see that fellow Jiang Li's mount any moment now."

"I'm really looking forward to it!"

Standing beside Long Haochen, Li Xin's eyes were now filled with fervor.

She had been thinking about this for a long time, but had never found a suitable opportunity to see it with her own eyes.

Today, that opportunity had finally arrived.

How could she not be excited?

"Sister Li Xin..."

Seeing Li Xin like this, Long Haochen did not know what to say for a moment.

He knew very well what was going on.

He wanted to explain the truth, but seeing Sister Li Xin like this, he ultimately could not bear to douse her enthusiasm with cold water.