The flying vessel sped along, and before long, it arrived within the borders of the Tianyuan Dynasty.
Just as Xiao Jintian and his group expected to find the Tianyuan Dynasty in complete turmoil—a living hell overrun by demonic chaos—they were stunned to discover that the entire dynasty was rejoicing.
“What on earth is going on?” Everyone was completely bewildered, as this was the exact opposite of what they had imagined.
Without any hesitation, Xiao Jintian, the old drunkard, and the girl in white's Dao protector all swept out their terrifying divine senses, instantly eavesdropping on the conversations of the living beings in the cities they passed.
After a brief investigation, they understood the gist of what had happened.
It turned out that just as the Tianyuan Dynasty had fallen into despair, a genius named Ye Lin had emerged out of nowhere. With absolute, crushing strength, he had wiped out all the evil spirits in the Tianyuan Dynasty within three days.
To express their gratitude, the commoners and other races across the land were building temples and crafting golden statues in his image to worship him day and night.
“How is that possible? Even though this is a remote place, the evil spirits suppressed within the Demon Abyss must be at least at the Nascent Soul Stage.”
“How could a young genius not even nineteen years old possess the strength to clear out such demonic chaos?”
The first to express disbelief was the girl in white's Dao protector. Hailing from the Sacred Domain, she naturally looked down upon the cultivators of the five major domains.
In her mind, no matter how heaven-defying the geniuses of the five major domains were, it was highly unlikely for anyone to emerge who could stand on equal footing with the geniuses of the Sacred Domain.
After all, their bloodlines, resources, and starting points were on entirely different levels. Someone like Mo Wushang, who rose up against all odds, was ultimately an extremely rare exception.
But even the highly renowned Mo Wushang definitely did not possess such terrifying combat strength in his youth. Crushing a Nascent Soul True Monarch at just over eighteen years old? This was more frightening than the top geniuses of their Sacred Domain, perhaps even surpassing her own young mistress.
“Hahaha! Excellent, wonderful! A genius like this is bound to be able to cultivate my lineage's heritage.” Although the old drunkard was also shocked, he was filled with even greater anticipation to meet Ye Lin.
As for Xiao Jintian, his shock quickly gave way to joy. After all, Ye Lin was a junior whose rise he had witnessed. Seeing the youth achieve such heights and display such great righteousness naturally filled him with immense pride.
Meanwhile, upon learning of Ye Lin's deeds, the girl in white, Su Miao'er, and Xu Qing'an also felt a sudden surge of immense pressure.
As top geniuses themselves, both of them were currently at the Foundation Establishment Stage. With their personal combat strength, they could slay a Golden Core Venerable, but against a Nascent Soul cultivator, they could only run for their lives.
Yet, Ye Lin was actually able to crush and kill Nascent Soul experts. How could this not place immense pressure on them?
Compared to Ye Lin, the talent and combat strength they had always been proud of suddenly seemed rather ordinary.
“There is no need to look down on yourself. Your Desolate Ancient Divine Physique has currently awakened less than one-tenth. Once you awaken it further, your combat strength will surely skyrocket.”
Sensing the heavy pressure weighing on Xu Qing'an, the mysterious woman inside the jade pendant spoke in a gentle tone.
In truth, as a being who had once surpassed the level of immortals, she too had underestimated Ye Lin's dreadfulness time and time again.
She faintly recalled their first meeting in Great Desolation Village. She had been unable to see through Ye Lin back then, but she had merely attributed it to having just awakened and assumed he possessed a sacred artifact.
Particularly when Ye Lin was tested to have only a mid-grade seven-attribute mixed Spiritual Root, she felt he was simply lucky to have obtained a sacred artifact. With his talent being what it was, his achievements in this lifetime would be highly limited.
But when she saw Ye Lin for the second time in the Immortal Hall Secret Realm, he had not only obtained the qualification to enter the Immortal Hall but had also cleared three trials in a row, matching the records of the second-tier geniuses from the myriad races.
One had to know that only a few days had passed since their first meeting. Though she had been slightly surprised back then, she still believed her judgment was mostly correct—Ye Lin might achieve some minor success, but it would ultimately be limited.
But now, during their third encounter just over a month later, Xu Qing'an—who possessed the Desolate Ancient Divine Physique and was the Son of Destiny of this world—had only managed to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage under her meticulous guidance.
This cultivation speed was already fully capable of surpassing the growth rate of his peers in this world.
Furthermore, relying on his physique and the secret techniques she had taught him, Xu Qing'an could definitely hold his own against a Golden Core Venerable, and could even slay one without using his ultimate trump cards.
She considered such achievements to be highly satisfactory. After all, those top geniuses had been nurtured since childhood, whereas Xu Qing'an had achieved this in just over a month with her help. It was certainly something to be proud of.
Yet, she had never expected that an anomaly like Ye Lin would once again make her look at him in a completely new light.
“One truly can never underestimate others,” she ultimately sighed to herself in warning.
Upon hearing his master's comforting words, Xu Qing'an merely smiled.
For Ye Lin to achieve this, he must have endured countless hardships. If he was temporarily surpassed by the other, he would just have to work hard and catch up.
Learning that Ye Lin had become so strong, he was genuinely happy for him. At the same time, he also seemed to understand why Ye Lin had ended up on the Heavenly Dao Kill List.
“I still need to warn him. Although his combat strength is immense, the other Sons of Destiny aren't geniuses of our generation. Some of them might already be at the Tribulation Transmutation Stage, or even higher.”
Glancing up at the azure sky, Xu Qing'an murmured to himself.
Meanwhile, within the Inner Academy of the Tianyuan Cultivation Academy, Ye Lin was currently drinking tea with Senior Zhu Xuanwei's clone.
His purpose in visiting this senior was, of course, regarding the Inner Academy Genius Qualification Tournament.
“You're in luck. In seven days, the Inner Academy Genius Qualification Tournament will begin.”
“It will last for one day. After selecting the top five geniuses, you will be sent to cultivate in the Heavenly Spirit Secret Realm for ten days. Following that, the higher-ups of the Tianyuan Cultivation Academy will escort you to another location to compete against the geniuses of other Yellow-grade Cultivation Academies.”
“Only those who rank in the top twenty of that competition will qualify to enter a Mysterious-grade Cultivation Academy.”
Taking a gentle sip of her tea, Zhu Xuanwei proceeded to explain the entire process of the genius tournament to Ye Lin.
“Looking at it this way, the competition to rise up is quite fierce,” Ye Lin remarked thoughtfully, holding his teacup.
“It might be fierce for others, but for you, it's just a matter of a single punch. What kind of competition do you even have?” Hearing his words, Zhu Xuanwei couldn't help but roll her eyes.
“By the way, there won't be any disgusting backroom deals during this time, right? Like the hosts sent by the Mysterious-grade Cultivation Academy showing favoritism or deliberately looking for trouble?”
As if he hadn't noticed Zhu Xuanwei's eye-roll, Ye Lin continued to speak.
“You actually reminded me. I will be one of the leading elders for this examination. If anyone dares to rig it, I'll slap them to death on the spot.”
“However, your reputation has grown too loud recently. Many people will likely covet you. Just stay obediently in the Inner Academy during this period. With me around, no one will be able to touch you.”
After listening to Ye Lin, Zhu Xuanwei pondered for a moment before speaking in a calm tone.
“Thank you for your care, Senior. It is truly the fortune of the human race to have someone as just and sensible as you,” Ye Lin said, giving her a direct thumbs-up.
“At least you know how to show respect.” Being praised by such a genius, Zhu Xuanwei's clone couldn't help but lift her chin slightly.
Seeing this, Ye Lin suddenly recited, “I slay demons for the human race, defending the mountains and rivers with hot-blooded grace.”
Zhu Xuanwei was taken aback. “The human race indeed needs hot-blooded youths like you—”
“You brat, get the hell out of here!”
“Getting angry is bad for your health, Senior. You must take care of yourself.”
Seeing that he had failed to trigger any reward, Ye Lin could only activate his 【Forced Swap】.
Swapping positions with the air in the far distance, his body vanished into the horizon in an instant.
Rate on N.U.
