Chapter 1403: You seem to have misunderstood something—wait and see!

The air seemed to freeze instantly.

Dylan's sarcastic mutter, though as faint as a mosquito's hum,

was impossible for the Star Rank experts present to miss.

The fiery Yan Ji could no longer contain herself; her beautiful eyes snapped wide.

Her long hair stirred without wind, the temperature around her spiked, and she sneered:

"We'll take the mission however we please—when did you get the right to meddle?!"

"Yan Ji, calm down.

Don't let our qi leak before the mission even begins and alert the Holy Spirit Cult."

Lan Yu quickly gripped her shoulder, though his eyes also glowed with displeasure.

Yue Ying, whose silver hair flowed like a waterfall, said nothing, but her gray-stone eyes had grown cold.

"This guy Dylan is too impatient!"

Hui Si inwardly groaned, but reacted swiftly, bowing apologetically:

"Please, Your Highnesses, forgive us—Dylan is young and foolish, and has offended you all. I apologize on his behalf!"

He spun around sharply and barked at Dylan: "Apologize now!"

Dylan clearly hadn't expected such a strong reaction from Yan Ji and the others.

Though still resentful inside, faced with his teacher's overwhelming pressure, he reluctantly bowed his head:

"Sorry—I spoke without restraint and offended you all..."

Hui Si quickly smiled to ease the tension:

"We've handled more Holy Spirit Cult missions than most—ask my two students if you need further details."

"Not sincere enough."

Xu Jingming, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke, his voice calm:

"Then from now on, Dylan won't participate in this mission."

He hated incompetent allies and internal strife.

From the start, Dylan had shown clear discontent—he had no reason to tolerate it.

"This..."

Hui Si paused, trying to plead: "Isn't that a bit extreme?"

Though he had already transferred this mission to Star穹 Academy,

they would still receive a share of the credit upon completion.

If Dylan is removed, all twenty-three years he spent preparing will have been wasted.

"You seem to have misunderstood something."

Xu Jingming lifted his eyelids, his cold, sharply defined black-and-white eyes fixing on him:

"I'm not asking your opinion—I'm informing you.

This mission was issued by Star穹 Academy; we accepted it.

Your role is to assist us and provide all necessary support."

His voice was not loud, but carried absolute authority.

"Command rests with us, not with you.

Of course, you may choose to let Dylan continue participating.

But in that case, we will report the situation truthfully to the Inspector."

Xu Jingming said calmly.

The moment he uttered "Inspector," Hui Si's face turned ashen.

As a peripheral member of the Eternal Star Alliance, he knew all too well how terrifying Inspectors were.

Those cold beings wearing silver masks were tasked solely with handling internal Alliance affairs.

And these people before him—

unquestionably core members of Star穹 Academy, far above their peripheral status.

If this escalated, they would be the ones to suffer.

The Eternal Star Alliance's rules were strict.

The final outcome might even be their expulsion from the Alliance!

"No, please, Your Highnesses, forgive us!"

Hui Si hurriedly said, "We will obey all your commands—Dylan will not participate in the rest of this mission!"

His voice trembled.

He had spent countless efforts, endured unimaginable hardships, just to earn his peripheral membership in the Eternal Star Alliance.

He couldn't lose it over one mission.

"Teacher?" Dylan stared, stunned.

He never imagined his favorite teacher would yield so easily.

"Shut up! You won't participate in the rest of this mission."

Hui Si snorted, unleashing his Star Rank Four power in a狂涌 of pressure that crushed Dylan into silence.

After this minor incident, Dylan never spoke again.

Hui Si's demeanor grew even more respectful, and even the girl Xie Ya's expression now carried a hint of fear.

Xu Jingming couldn't help but feel a pang of reflection.

This was the power of a core member of the Eternal Star Alliance.

Otherwise, if an ordinary person had come, Diren alone would have been a real headache.

"Although the Holy Spirit Sect's headquarters is here,

it's nothing but an empty shell. Over the years we've scoured it countless times and never once found any trace of demons.

We suspect the true core of the Holy Spirit Sect isn't here at all."

The stretched limousine finally pulled to a stop inside a villa.

After leading Xu Jingming and the others inside the villa to sit down, Hughes immediately spoke up.

"Tomorrow is the Holy Spirit Sect's decennial Sensing Saints Festival.

In Xuanxing City there will be two venues hosting the large-scale festivities.

In our past investigations, the probability of believers disappearing is highest during this kind of festival.

Your Highnesses, shall we go to the sites tomorrow to do some scouting?"

Hughes asked, probing.

He then opened a holographic projection, displaying the two locations in Xuanxing City, named 'Jade Dragon Plaza' and 'Xihua Plaza' respectively.

The two sites were roughly a hundred kilometers apart from each other.

"Oh? Looks like we arrived at just the right time."

After a moment's thought, Xu Jingming arranged:

"We'll split into two teams.

Hughes, you go with Lanyu and Yanji to Jade Dragon Plaza. Yueying and Xia go with me to Xihua Plaza."

"Good."

"No problem."

Lanyu, Yanji, and the others nodded one after another.

Back on the ship, they had already agreed that Xu Jingming would be team leader.

Now that action was beginning, they naturally followed his arrangements.

But Hughes was somewhat surprised.

After all, he was a Star-rank Fourth Stage powerhouse, the strongest combatant on paper.

Yet the other side had him paired off with the rest—was a prodigy of the Star Dome Academy really that confident?

What he didn't know, however, was—

Xu Jingming's current full-strength combat power was already a match for a Star-rank Sixth Stage demon beast.

For a cultivator at Star-rank Fourth Stage like him, naturally he wouldn't care.

"What time does tomorrow's event start?"

Xu Jingming asked again.

"Nine tomorrow morning," Hughes replied.

"Alright then, let's rest up for a while and regroup early tomorrow."

Xu Jingming nodded.

"Your Highnesses, please come upstairs. Rooms have already been prepared for you to rest in."

Hughes hurriedly stepped forward to lead the way.

"Hmph, we've taken part in this Sensing Saints Festival once before, and we didn't find a damn thing!

I don't believe they'll actually find anything this time either!"

After Xu Jingming and the others left, Diren finally snorted, unconvinced.

"Say a little less, will you? They're not people we can afford to offend."

Xia couldn't help but advise.

Although she too was unhappy about the mission being snatched away,

the other party was a core member—no matter how displeased, there was nothing to be done.

"I know! I'm just not convinced!

Just wait and see, Xia—you going with them tomorrow is destined to get you zero intel."

Diren said, brimming with confidence.

As if he could already see the scene tomorrow of Xu Jingming's group returning empty-handed.

A mission he himself couldn't complete—how could this group of newcomers who had clearly only just entered the Academy possibly pull it off?