Chapter 1181: Challenge Letter! The Stunned Jess!

"Mm, building up slowly before a sudden burst — I was already quite familiar with body-tempering arts to begin with.

Practicing this 'Purple Thunder Veined Body' was likewise second nature, and I picked it up in no time."

Xu Jingming nodded and said.

"Do I look like a fool to you?"

Senior brother Jess was a bit speechless.

Although he walked the Elementalist path and had not practiced body-tempering arts,

any T7-grade secret manual was never simple!

Even a Tier-1 genius within the Holy Land would need at least three or four years just to complete the introductory stage of a T7-grade body-tempering art.

And that was with a teacher's guidance — but how long had Xu Jingming taken?

Five days!

No matter how much you build up before a sudden burst, it couldn't possibly be this outrageous!

Xu Jingming smiled and said nothing.

He had to build up his genius persona, so as to lay the groundwork for his absurd breakthrough speed later on.

"You..."

Jess was about to press on with detailed questions, but suddenly his expression changed and his voice cut off short.

"What's wrong?" Xu Jingming asked curiously.

"It's a message from the Virtual Universe — that Cohen actually got the Ninth Prince to step in.

Let's go, head to the Virtual Universe first."

Jess frowned slightly.

Although Xu Jingming was somewhat in the dark, he still put on his virtual helmet and entered the Virtual Universe.

Swoosh, swoosh—

Virtual Universe, Noah Holy Land plaza.

Jess and Xu Jingming's figures appeared in an instant.

The moment he appeared, Xu Jingming noticed a huge golden challenge letter hanging over the entire Holy Land.

The challenge letter had some content written in the Universal Cosmic Language:

'The dignity of the Imperial Clan cannot be insulted. Tier-1 genius Xu Jingming insulted and cursed Crown Prince Cohen, and grievously wounded him.

I, the Ninth Prince Di Er, hereby set up an arena. The challenger will be Crown Prince Bazil, also of Star Radiance Fourth Stage.

If you, Xu Jingming, win, the matter will be wiped clean, and I, the Ninth Prince, will give you an additional 200 million credit points.

If you lose, I want you to personally apologize to Cohen, and willingly serve 100 years of confinement within the Holy Land!

The arena battle will begin in 15 days. If you, Xu Jingming, do not accept the challenge, you shall be convicted on the charge of insulting the Imperial Clan.'

Beneath the challenge letter, a steadily shrinking countdown: 14 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes (Not Accepted)

The enormous challenge letter was visible to the entire Holy Land.

At this moment, quite a few people on the Holy Land plaza were also discussing it.

"What a shameless move — it was clearly this Cohen who struck first out of arrogance, yet on this challenge letter he's the victim!"

The little sprite Eva sitting on Xu Jingming's shoulder wore a look of utter contempt on her cute little face.

"Junior brother, you don't need to worry about this. I'll go find a teacher to handle it." Senior brother Jess said in a low voice.

"Insulting the Imperial Clan? Can someone actually be convicted on such grounds within the Holy Land?" Xu Jingming frowned slightly.

"An ordinary Crown Prince naturally couldn't, but this Ninth Prince's status is no ordinary matter."

Jess began to explain: "His maternal grandfather is an Eternal Eighth Stage powerhouse of the mid-level civilization cosmic nation 'Black Flame Empire.'

Even the Nation Lord himself has to tread carefully around him, thanks to this connection.

So this Ninth Prince, even among the Nation Lord's many offspring, counts as one of the especially distinguished ones.

So yes, he really can convict you."

"I see."

Xu Jingming suddenly understood, then said with a smile:

"But this matter is simple enough — I just have to defeat that Crown Prince Bazil, right?

Not only will the matter be wiped clean, I'll even earn a sum of credit points."

"It's not that simple. This Bazil is different from other Crown Princes — he's a genuine Tier-1 genius.

He has mastered both the Gold and Earth domains, and has reached the Eleventh Stage of Domain.

What's more, he successfully condensed a T8-grade Dharma Aspect last year!

You haven't even condensed your Dharma Aspect yet — once you step onto the stage, you're guaranteed to lose."

Jess shook his head and said.

Although there are plenty of watered-down talents among the Imperial Clan, there are also many true prodigies — and this Bazil is one of them.

"Oh? Then if I had already condensed a Dharma Aspect, what would my odds be?" Xu Jingming's sword-shaped brows rose.

"Then naturally you'd win. The Dharma Aspect the teacher gave you is the T7 premium-grade 'Thunder Abyss Sun-Devouring Aspect'!

Once condensed, its combat power can be called invincible among peers — even compared with geniuses from our Human Race's peak powers, it would be in no way inferior."

Jess said as a matter of course.

Within the entire Noah Empire, the Noah Holy Land was indeed the top-tier cultivation ground.

But if you looked at the entire cosmos, the entire Human Race, it was nothing to speak of.

Yet once one completed the cultivation of the 'Thunder Abyss Sun-Devouring Aspect', one would suddenly leap up a tier, matching the Human Race's top prodigies.

"Then there's no problem — I will definitely win this arena battle." Xu Jingming broke into a smile.

Free credit points delivered to my door — turning them down would be stupid.

"What do you mean?" Jess hadn't caught on yet.

"S-rank means he's already condensed a Dharma Aspect. He'd butcher Bazil like slaughtering a dog."

The little sprite Yiwa on Xu Jingming's shoulder swung her twin ponytails, her laughter chiming like silver bells.

"You've really already condensed a Dharma Aspect?"

Inside the spaceship cabin, Jess had already logged out of the Virtual Universe, staring at Xu Jingming in disbelief.

As a cosmic-level powerhouse, as long as he didn't need to fight inside the Virtual Universe, he only needed to split off a sliver of his will to enter.

His real-world body could remain awake and active.

Xu Jingming across from him did the same. He took off his virtual helmet and said with a smile:

"I condensed the 'Thunder Abyss Sun-Devouring Aspect' just a few hours ago.

I was planning to tell the teacher first, but since I had to head home right away, I figured I'd give him a surprise when I got back."

With that, his mind stirred.

Boom—!!

The Thunder Abyss Sun-Devouring Aspect condensed with a thunderous crash!

A light wheel three meters in diameter, its edges laced with pitch-black lightning and its center like a black hole, appeared behind him.

It made the already tall and broad Xu Jingming look like a god.

"A Dharma Aspect — it's really a T7 fine-grade Thunder Abyss Sun-Devouring Aspect!!"

Jess sprang up from the sofa in one motion, his eyes locked dead on the light wheel hovering behind Xu Jingming.

That aura of destruction and the law of lightning woven together — it absolutely couldn't be faked!

"The teacher gave you 100 years, and you only used 5 days..."

Jess felt his scalp go numb.

Five days!

Condensing a T7 fine-grade Dharma Aspect in just five days!

What kind of heaven-defying talent was this?!

"Now you can rest easy, Senior Brother. That Bazil won't be my match."

Xu Jingming retracted his Dharma Aspect, his expression relaxed.

"Indeed — you'd butcher Bazil like slaughtering a dog."

Jess let out a long breath, steadied his emotions a bit, then nodded. After a moment, he said with some regret:

"The Ninth Prince's challenge isn't a problem, but you should have told me about this earlier.

While we haven't left the Holy Land yet, let's go tell the teacher this news.

He'll probably rush back right away and plant the Law of Lightning seed in you."

"It's fine — the Law seed can wait till later. Getting back to Blue Star comes first." Xu Jingming said with a faint smile.

Counting the time, Song Qiuyun and Jiang Chuxuan should be about at their due date.

And teacher Lu Wen hurrying back from other parts of the Empire would also take a few days.

Naturally, he wanted to rush back to Blue Star as soon as possible.

"You say it so casually, as if a Law seed is something you can just pick up off the ground."

Jess shot Xu Jingming a rather aggrieved look.

Back in the day, to obtain the teacher's Law of Lightning seed, he'd had to grind away for a full thousand years before meeting the requirements...

"Still, we need to tell the teacher about this right away. I'll contact him."

Under Jess's operation, the holographic projection of Lu Wen — who was still completely in the dark — quickly appeared in the cabin.