Chapter 120: Cousin Li Bin! A Conspiracy!

“Bing Ge?”

Song Qiuyun also noticed the young man, a look of surprise brightening her lovely face.

“Wait here for me.”

The young man turned to his team members, then walked straight to Song Qiuyun, a teasing smile on his face:

“Young Lady, what a coincidence, meeting you here.”

“Bing Ge, if you keep calling me that, I’ll start using your nickname too.”

As if reminded of some long-buried embarrassment, Song Qiuyun quickly cut him off.

“Haha, Xiao Yun, you’re just as easily teased as ever.”

The young man laughed, then frowned slightly:

“But aren’t you supposed to be studying at Magic University? Why are you here in the Demon Cavern?”

“It’s a study trip, Bing Ge—aren’t you a graduate of Qingjing Magic University?” Song Qiuyun retorted.

“Study trip?”

The young man paused, then realized:

Right, it’s already November—top universities are already arranging study trips now.

“Exactly.”

Song Qiuyun beamed and introduced Xu Jingming:

“Jingming, this is my cousin Li Bin, graduated from Qingjing Magic University.

He’s currently captain of the twelfth squad of Glory Squad.”

The Song family is vast, but most of its younger members grew up together and are close.

Cousin Li Bin is one of the relatives she gets along with best.

“Vice-captain, vice-captain.”

Li Bin cleared his throat and quickly corrected himself.

If the captain heard that, he’d be forced into brutal extra training.

“Alright, alright, Vice-Captain Li, I get it.”

Song Qiuyun deliberately dragged out the title, then turned to introduce Xu Jingming:

“This is Xu Jingming, my classmate and friend.”

“Xu Jingming?”

Li Bin had already noticed the young man’s unusual aura; hearing the name, his eyes lit up:

“You’re the S-rank from Magic University? Honor to meet you.”

Before speaking, Li Bin had seemed composed, his aura refined and coldly imposing.

But the moment he opened his mouth, he completely fell apart—now he was enthusiastically shaking Xu Jingming’s hand.

As if Xu Jingming were some rare exotic creature.

“Bing Ge, you’ve got some good intel—how’d you even know about him?”

Song Qiuyun was genuinely surprised.

Her cousin always seemed unreliable; she never expected him to know about Xu Jingming.

“Xiao Yun, you don’t know—top-tier squads have been watching Xu Jingming since day one, waiting for him to graduate so they can recruit him.

Glory Squad’s no different—I, as vice-captain, have heard that name countless times.”

Li Bin blurted out, then glanced between the two:

“Huh? Just the two of you out alone?”

“What? Is that a problem?” Song Qiuyun raised an eyebrow.

“No problem, of course no problem.”

Li Bin waved his hands dramatically, then immediately gave Xu Jingming a thumbs-up:

“Brother Jingming! Impressive! This is the first time I’ve ever seen Xiao Yun go out alone with a guy.

Lucky for me—my uncle’s family still needs a suitable son-in-law, and you look perfect...”

Before he could finish, Li Bin felt Song Qiuyun’s gaze—cold enough to kill.

“Cough, cough—Brother Jingming, let’s chat another time.”

“Also, wish you all good results in your Magic University study trip.”

“I’ve got things to do—I’m off.”

With a cough, Li Bin decisively bolted.

“Your cousin’s kind of interesting.”

Watching Li Bin lead his team away, Xu Jingming thought of his high school buddy Zhang Hao.

Both had the same goofy streak.

If they met, they’d probably become good friends.

“He’s okay—just sometimes unreliable.”

Song Qiuyun exhaled deeply.

If Li Bin had stayed any longer, he might’ve said something even more outrageous.

“Let’s go back to the training hall.”

“Alright.”

As Xu Jingming and Song Qiuyun returned to the training hall and resumed their practice,

in a secluded villa within the Shun’an Supply Base complex,

a lean man in a gray robe, a blood-moon emblem on his back,

floated midair in the center of the villa’s living room, cradling a bone as white as jade.

“Grand Archbishop, I’m back.”

A middle-aged man entered the villa and knelt before the gray-robed man.

The gray-robed man slowly opened his eyes, his voice low and grave:

“Have you confirmed the intelligence?”

“Yes, Grand Archbishop. Confirmed—the Magic University S-rank has reached Upper Second Stage.”

The middle-aged man replied respectfully.

“He was still just an Awakened during the Wu Ke exam—less than half a year later, he’s already Upper Second Stage...”

The gray-robed man’s eyes gleamed with sharp light. “If such a prodigy grows unchecked, it will be our greatest blow.

In one month, our Celestial Mandate Sect will reveal ourselves to the world.

Let the elite students of the three universities—including Xu Jingming and the S-rank from India—become our sacrifices...”

The gray-robed man’s voice dripped with bloodthirsty malice; then a small black device appeared in his hand:

“Also, divine blood will emerge within the Demon Cavern. This is the Divine Blood Locator—arrange personnel to recover it.

Remember: do not use the Celestial Mandate Sect’s name.”

“Understood.”

The middle-aged man bowed and withdrew with the device; the villa fell silent once more...

Meanwhile, after returning to the training room,

Xu Jingming and Song Qiuyun no longer sparred—they trained separately.

They didn’t leave until 5 p.m., when they received the notice to assemble for the meeting.

The assembly was held on the square in front of the Shun’an Supply Base.

Besides the new students from Magic University, new students from Jincheng Magic University and Qingjing Magic University had also arrived.

The three universities together had nearly three thousand new students.

Yet standing on the square, it felt anything but crowded.

At the front of the square, besides Deputy Principal Ling Shuang, two other people stood—a man and a woman.

Their auras were equally powerful; they must be the team leaders from the other two universities.

“Good day, students of the three universities. I am Deputy Principal Xu Ping of Qingjing Magic University.

This study trip, besides...”

The meeting was hosted by Qingjing Magic University’s deputy principal.

The content was much the same as what Ling Shuang had explained at school.

Rankings will be based on the level, quantity, and species of demons slain; the top 1,000 students across all three universities will receive rewards.

The higher the rank, the greater the reward.

The top three may choose any one combat technique from the combined libraries of the three universities.

Additionally, this is a joint reward from all three schools.

Winning a rank also entitles you to your own school’s bonus.

For example, Magic University will award ten thousand academic credits to the student who finishes first overall.

Of course,

all Magic University freshmen knew: only Xu Jingming had any real chance of claiming that reward.

And with Qingjing Magic University’s S-rank as a rival, even that chance was slim!

“Also, let me reiterate: every demon you kill inside the Demon Cavern will be recorded by the smart wristband just issued.”

If the smart bracelet detects cheating behavior and it is confirmed by human review, the offender will face extremely severe penalties...

At this moment, all three schools’ new students on the square.

Each had received a smart bracelet tasked with recording the number and species of slain beasts and compiling their scores.

Unlike the Wu Ke college entrance exam, rankings would not update in real time.

After all, Cave Seven was vast and expansive, and the signal could not cover it all.

Only upon returning to the supply base and submitting the smart bracelet to the scoring machine would their scores and rankings be displayed.