Inside Desolate Ancient City

"A trivial matter..."

Before Lin Ming could even utter the word "skill," his expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly drew his sword to block the chilling blade.

Boom!

The two Sword Qi collided in mid-air, creating a massive explosion.

The crowd in the square saw Lin Ming retreat dozens of steps before regaining his balance, while Elder Bing stood motionless as if nothing had happened, only swinging his sword again.

"Etc."

Upon seeing this, Lin Ming quickly shouted, Elder Bing, hearing the shout, sheathed his sword and looked at the other party coldly.

"Elder Bing, your skills are impressive. Although you gained the upper hand just now, even if I had gone all out, we would have only ended up with mutual injuries. I really have nothing more to teach you. Elder Bing wishes to leave the Heavenly Spirit Institute, please do so."

Lin Ming finished speaking in one breath, afraid that the other party would disagree. At this point, he no longer cared about losing face.

The Elder Bing before me has actually grasped the True Essence of Sword Dao, and judging from the way she attacked just now, she didn't seem to be going all out.

If a fight really breaks out, I'll lose all face today.

"Thank you, Chief Lin."

After saying that, Bing Yan flew towards the stands.

Upon seeing this scene, the dean subconsciously stroked his beard, then glanced at Chu Feng not far away.

This kid really manages to bring me unexpected surprises every time. Today's battle will hopefully keep these little guys from the Holy Institute in line for a while.

However, the eight chiefs standing to the side looked extremely ugly. They hadn't expected Lin Ming to make them lose face so easily with just one move.

You're supposed to be a prodigy of the Holy Institute, yet you were suppressed by an elder from the Mundane Institute whose cultivation level was lower than yours. I should have gone instead.

The most surprised were the cultivators in the square; they never expected the battle to end so quickly.

Everyone was smart enough to see that Elder Bing had the upper hand just now.

However, none of them have any plans to join the Miscellaneous Dao Institute yet, it's just a pity that this good show has come to an end like this.

A moment later, the dean announced the end of today's appointments.

All nine chief ministers departed in unison.

Jin Feiyao was the first to challenge Lin Ming: "Senior Brother Lin, you wouldn't happen to have taken a liking to that Elder Bing you?"

Lin Ming had anticipated that everyone would make things difficult for him, and said calmly.

"She has grasped the True Essence of Sword Dao. If any of you do not believe me, you can go to the Miscellaneous Dao Institute and humiliate yourselves."

Upon hearing this, the eight people were instantly stunned.

"Impossible."

That's absolutely impossible.

"..."

The eight people looked astonished. Each of them was a top-notch genius, yet none of them had grasped the True Essence of the Great Dao.

This trip to the Mundane Institute for cultivation is to gain experience here and comprehend the True Essence of the Great Dao.

Lin Ming is now telling them that a female cultivator at the Nirvana Third Layer has actually grasped the True Essence of Sword Dao, which is something they can't accept for a while.

Seeing their astonished expressions, Lin Ming raised his right hand.

Upon closer inspection, everyone saw that his palms were covered with cracked, bloody welts, and Sword Qi still lingered within them.

After careful consideration, everyone fell silent.

"This truly embodies the True Essence of Sword Dao. I wonder how Elder Bing cultivated it."

Zhang Ruochen murmured with some doubt.

Yue Wushuang said, "Before I came to the Mundane Institute, I met with the Carefree Great Sage and asked him who in the Dao-Seeking Academy should not be offended. At that time Carefree Great Sage mentioned three heads of the Miscellaneous Dao Institute, the Great Sage Golden Wing, and the other one was Elder Bing."

At the time, I didn't understand why the Carefree Great Sage included Elder Bing in the list. Clearly, he knew that Elder Bing had grasped the True Essence of Sword Dao, and that Elder Bing was the Daoist partner of the head of the Miscellaneous Dao Institute, the number one prodigy since the founding of the Dao-Seeking Academy, and the academy's next Saint Master.

After hearing these words, everyone's faces showed thoughtful expressions.

They all had their own Little Jiu, but the battle just now reminded them of one thing: trying to use their status as prodigies to pressure others was clearly not going to work.

On Miaomiao Mountain.

Great Sage Golden Wing was in a very good mood today. He asked with a smile, "Sister-in-law, why don't you teach that Lin brat a lesson?"

Chu Feng patted him on the shoulder. "We're all colleagues, a small warning is enough. There's no need to embarrass the other party. After all, cultivation is about interpersonal relationships, not fighting and killing."

Great Sage Golden Wing tilted his head and pondered, "What you said seems to make some sense. No wonder my godfather told me to learn more from you."

"There will be plenty of opportunities to learn in the future, so come and keep drinking."

Chu Feng raised his wine glass as he spoke.

Within the Desolate Ancient City Secret Realm.

Xiao Chen and his group looked at the magnificent city built of yellow sand before them, their eyes gleaming with excitement.

At this moment, the gates of the Desolate Ancient City were tightly closed, and the surrounding area was eerily quiet, devoid of any life, which was in stark contrast to the rich Spiritual Qi in the secret realm.

Cao Youqian was about to use his divine sense to explore the city when he discovered that his divine sense was blocked by the city.

He subconsciously turned his gaze to Ye Beixuan: "Junior Brother Ye, what should we do next?"

Ye Beixuan said, "Let's just go straight into the city. I once read about the Desolate Ancient City Secret Realm in an ancient book. The Desolate Ancient City became a dead city after that war of imperial rule. Although there are some ghosts in the city, we have the Sword Jade bestowed upon us by our master, which can easily resolve these troubles."

Xiao Chen said, "We must not be careless. My suggestion is that we search together and distribute the treasures we find according to our needs."

"Can."

"No problem."

Everyone agreed without hesitation.

Unlike other places of cultivation, the Miscellaneous Dao Institute is different. Although people don't spend much time together on weekdays, there is no scheming or infighting; instead, there is only mutual affection and love.

"Set off."

As he spoke, Xiao Chen took the lead and walked towards the Desolate Ancient City.

Ye Beixuan also took out the key and slammed it against the city gate.

The key flew from his hand and disappeared into the city gate, after which the gate slowly opened.

What came into view was a ground littered with white bones.

These skeletons seemed to sense the presence of living people, and they slowly stood up and transformed into monsters, walking towards the group.

The group exchanged glances and, without a word, subdued the skeletal monsters.

While fighting, Ye Beixuan said, "Fellow disciples, flying is forbidden in this Desolate Ancient City, and these skeleton monsters are endless. What we need to do is rush to the Royal Court as quickly as possible. Once we get there, these skeleton monsters will stop in their tracks."

Upon hearing this, everyone instinctively quickened their pace, and about an hour later, a magnificent palace came into view.

And the skeletal monsters, just as Ye Beixuan had said, stopped in their tracks.

Seeing this, Cao Youqian laughed and joked, "Junior Brother Ye, I suspect you're not reading an ancient book, but rather the secret manual for the Desolate Ancient City Secret Realm!"

Ye Beixuan: "..."