“What kind of spell was that? Why couldn’t I sense any fluctuations of magic energy? Did you sense anything?” As the two of them were flying at high speed in the sky, Mi Jiu suddenly voiced her confusion.

She couldn’t understand how Chen Ling achieved such a feat. The spell text, magic energy reaction, and fluctuations, all disappeared without a trace. Even during the attack he launched at Chen Tianming and herself, they didn’t feel any energy fluctuations. It was as if he naturally possessed such immense power.

But that was truly hard to believe.

Just yesterday, a few minutes after he left, the Qianling Mountains erupted again. This indicated that within a few minutes, Chen Ling had traveled from the distant Pisces·Deep Sea Palace, crossed the ocean, traversed countries, and returned to the Qianling Mountains. This speed was simply beyond comprehension; even two forbidden curse masters couldn’t accomplish it.

Little did they know that reality was even more astonishing than they thought. Chen Ling could go anywhere in an instant.

At this moment, Chen Ling had already brought Sui Li’er back to his small house.

“What’s going on?” With a thought, the energy on his body burst open, directly shattering the dark spell Shen Jingbing held in his hand.

“What are you two doing, trying to increase your affinity points with each other?”

Smack!

Before Shen Jingbing could react, Chen Ling slapped him across the face.

“Chen Ling! I won’t co…!”

BOOM!

Chen Ling kicked him directly, bursting his little bird.

???

“Oh~~~”

“Ah!~”

Shen Jingbing rolled on the ground, groaning in pain and coughing violently, choking on his own pain. Suddenly, he knelt on the ground, knocking his head against the floor like crazy, as if he had gone insane.

He attempted to use other pains to distract himself from the intense agony. It was truly painful, a pain worse than death.

Sui Li’er covered her eyes, looking puzzled in Shen Jingbing’s direction. “Is… is there an earthquake?”

Chen Ling smiled and said, “Yes, are you scared?”

“I’m not scared~ hee~”

Then Chen Ling tied Shen Jingbing to a pillar and stood next to Min Jiangyun.

Shen Jingbing was in so much pain that his eyes rolled back, his expression grim and terrifying. Instinctively, he tried to release magic to escape, but he found that he couldn’t use any spells. He glanced at the chains binding him and angrily exclaimed, “Forbidden Spell Lock? You’re a Dark Curse Master!?”

The Forbidden Spell Lock was an item made of special materials. When it came into contact with a mage’s body, it would interfere with their magic energy, preventing them from using spells. However, it wouldn’t affect Forbidden Curse masters. It was a tool invented by dark magic users to bind and torment regular magic users. Unexpectedly, Chen Ling also possessed one and used it on the dark mage King Shen Jingbing.

“Chen! Chen Ling! Ah! I’ll kill you!”

〚 Ding~ Target Shen Jingbing, points -1 billion! 〛

His eyes were bloodshot, and they seemed ready to pop out, looking extremely terrifying. However, Chen Ling frowned, “Tsk, only 1 billion points? You’re not even a man anymore!”

“Can you be angrier? Let me see your rage!”

〚 Ding~ Min Jiangyun, points -5 million! 〛

Chen Ling looked at him and said, “Oh, forgot that you’re not a man either.”

〚 Shen Jingbing, points -1 billion! 〛

〚 Min Jiangyun, points -5 million! 〛

“Ai.” Chen Ling shook his head and seemed unsatisfied. “Restore!”

〛Ding~ Restoring Min Jiangyun and Shen Jingbing. 〛

In the next second, the pain on both of them disappeared, and they both wore surprised expressions, feeling like they had regained their dignity as men.

But before they could be happy…

Bang! Bang!

Chen Ling kicked them both.

???

“Ah! Jia-!”

“Ugh-!”

Their expressions were even more terrifying than before.

Chen Ling removed the cloth covering Min Jiangyun’s mouth.

“Ah! Chen Ling! I’ll kill you!”

Min Jiangyun: 〚 Points -5 million! 〛

Shen Jingbing: 〚 Points -1 billion! 〛

Chen Ling pouted his lips, looking dissatisfied. It seemed like the limit for these two was only 5 million and 1 billion points.

He then turned the two of them to face each other, leaving them to chit-chat in his absence. He wanted to ensure their mental health and keep them engaged while he was away. Otherwise, if he kept torturing them, their points would decrease less, which would not be acceptable.

After that, ignoring the two brothers’ cries and complaints, Chen Ling took Sui Li’er and returned to the assessment scene.

“Xiu Xiu~” Sui Li’er softly called out.

Luo Yuxiu turned her head upon hearing the voice, her face lighting up with joy.

Meanwhile, Ling Yi felt a bit puzzled: These two… how do they appear and disappear like ghosts?

The two brothers in Misty Rain City were still howling and shouting, trying to outdo each other in volume. Each one sounded more miserable than the other, and their points were continuously decreasing.

After an unknown amount of time, the two of them finally quieted down.

Min Jiangyun’s condition was clearly worse than Shen Jingbing’s. There wasn’t a single intact spot on his body; he had been struck countless times in the past two days. Chen Ling had only restored a portion of his injuries earlier.

Min Jiangyun hung his head, staring blankly at the ground. It was covered in both of their bloodstains.

Shen Jingbing had only just arrived here today, still a newcomer, but he looked lively and full of energy. He struggled with quite the flair.

But after struggling in vain for a while, he looked at Min Jiangyun in front of him.

“Did he ruin your dantian?”

Min Jiangyun weakly raised his head and nodded slightly. He didn’t want to talk anymore.

Shen Jingbing fell silent for a moment before speaking again: “Which region are you from as a dark magic user? I am Shen Jingbing, the King Qingping.”

Min Jiangyun was slightly surprised by the question and raised his eyelids weakly. Shen Jingbing, the King of Qingping secret realm, was quite famous in the circles of dark magic users.

After introducing himself, Shen Jingbing’s expression suddenly turned grim: “That Chen Ling destroyed the organization I worked so hard to build. I will never give up on this matter. When the time comes, I’ll help you escape, and you can become my subordinate.”

Min Jiangyun shook his head weakly in response: “You won’t be able to escape. Give up.”

After saying that, he lowered his head and fell silent, his eyes filled with despair.

Shen Jingbing, the King Qingping, coldly snorted but didn’t say anything more. Before he came here, he had prepared some backup plans. He was also glad that he hadn’t let someone slip away earlier, and that person was Huan Yingying.

Time passed, and finally, the last round of the tournament came to an end. The competition had gone on for several hours, and the sky outside was almost dark.

At this moment, the instructor from before stood in front of everyone and slowly began to speak, “All those who have won today don’t need to participate in tomorrow’s assessment. Tomorrow afternoon at 3 o’clock, proceed directly to the Aries Celestial Palace for the division ceremony.”

!!!

Everyone present was stunned.

“Ah! Yeah!”

In the next moment, the arena erupted with enthusiastic cheers, all coming from those who had won.

Sui Li’er looked at Chen Ling in disbelief, “Chen Ling, did we pass!?”

Chen Ling smiled and nodded, “Yes.”

“Wow…” Sui Li’er gently placed her hand on her chest, trying to calm down her excitement. “I actually passed the assessment for the Twelve Academies!”

〚 Target Sui Li’er, points +10 million! 〛

Now, when Chen Ling looked at the additional 10 million points, there was no emotional fluctuation in his heart. He even felt that it was somewhat insufficient. He smiled and opened his arms, “Come here, I’ll give you a hug as a reward.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah!” Sui Li’er took two quick steps and opened her arms, diving straight into Chen Ling’s embrace.

“Boom~” A muffled sound was heard as they collided.

---