Chapter 232

With the Red Cardinal Xue Sha of the Heavenly Fate Cult slain and Li Canghai arrested, the weary Xu Jingming finally had a chance to rest.

Notably, with Vice Principal Ling Shuang beside him, just a single spatial gate transported the two back to the villa's bedroom.

This made Xu Jingming marvel—how exactly did Ling Shuang's spatial ability work, and how could it be so precise?

But he was simply too exhausted, so he set the question aside for now.

After Ling Shuang left the bedroom, he quickly stripped off his bloodstained battle attire and collapsed onto the bed to sleep.

After an unknown length of time, Xu Jingming slowly woke from his slumber.

He instinctively grabbed his phone from the nightstand and lit up the screen.

"What the hell? It's already the 19th?"

Xu Jingming's eyes widened, his remaining drowsiness vanishing instantly; he leapt from bed and frantically began dressing.

It was 5 p. . on February 19th, meaning he had only two hours left inside the Thunder Realm.

"Two hours to attain the Condensed Liquid realm? This is a scam!"

Xu Jingming had assumed he'd sleep no more than twenty-four hours, so he hadn't set an alarm.

But he ended up sleeping for two full days and nights—his exhaustion was gone, yet the remaining time was far too short.

Boom—

Dressed in casual wear, Xu Jingming opened the bedroom door and stepped out, immediately seeing Vice Principal Ling Shuang in the living room.

She wore a pale black long robe, eyes half-closed, levitating midair while swirling torrents of Yuan energy surrounded her.

"The principal is actually in the villa?"

This was unexpected—he'd assumed Ling Shuang would only guard him from a nearby villa.

As if sensing Xu Jingming's presence, Ling Shuang slowly opened her eyes.

A pair of beautiful phoenix eyes turned toward him, her voice clear and melodious:

"Rested well?"

"I've rested well, but my time to comprehend natural thunder is almost gone..."

Xu Jingming sighed and shook his head.

"Don't rush—the Director Wang of Thunder Martial Arts has upgraded your S-rank access pass to a permanent one."

"From now on, you may enter and exit the Thunder Realm freely, with no time restrictions."

Ling Shuang descended from midair, her bare, glistening jade feet touching the floor as she spoke softly.

"Oh?"

Xu Jingming's face lit up; he hurriedly thanked her: "Thank you, Principal."

"I didn't help much—it was Director Wang who voluntarily upgraded your access. He clearly sees great potential in you," Ling Shuang said, shaking her head.

"But if not for your influence, Principal, Director Wang wouldn't have acted so quickly, would he?" Xu Jingming chuckled.

He knew his limits—based on the potential he'd shown so far,

Director Wang would've considered an S-rank pass the absolute limit of what to give.

The upgrade to permanent access was clearly due to his close relationship with Ling Shuang.

After all,

In their eyes, both he and Ling Shuang were S-rank abilities.

But one was Third-Rank Upper, the other Eighth-Rank Middle—any fool knew who to curry favor with.

"You see things clearly."

Ling Shuang made no comment, then shook her head:

"It's just that they don't yet know you're an SS-rank ability. If they did,

They'd scramble to upgrade your pass without needing my influence at all.

Of course, your ability's evolution into SS-rank is still hidden—for now.

Once the National University Games begin, it'll almost certainly be exposed. Prepare yourself mentally."

An SS-rank ability differs vastly in power from an S-rank ability.

Ordinary cultivators might not notice, but anyone who's witnessed an S-rank ability can tell Xu Jingming's power exceeds S-rank.

In fact,

The people at Thunder Martial Arts likely already suspect—just without concrete proof.

As one of the world's strongest nations, Great Xia's National University Games will be broadcast globally.

As the saying goes: when youth is strong, the nation is strong; when youth is weak, the nation is weak.

This tournament, determining the strongest among Great Xia's youth,

Draws intense attention not just domestically from countless factions and cultivators, but also from abroad.

To better analyze Great Xia's young generation, foreign nations have even established specialized intelligence analysis units!

Top-tier AIs like Eva aren't unheard of.

Once Xu Jingming steps onto the field, his ability's rank and type will be analyzed without fail.

At that moment, the entire Blue Planet will know Great Xia has produced a prodigy with an SS-rank ability.

"What mental preparations do I need? Please advise, Principal," Xu Jingming asked, puzzled.

"Money, power, fame, profit—and of course, beauty."

Ling Shuang's beautiful eyes fixed on Xu Jingming, as if piercing his soul:

"You are Great Xia's only S-rank ability awakened in the past three years.

But in truth, the world produces over ten S-rank awakenings annually.

SS-rank is different—there are extremely few across the entire Blue Planet.

The last SS-rank awakening occurred four years ago.

That individual came from a small African nation; once confirmed as SS-rank,

He immediately switched to American citizenship and was heavily cultivated.

Due to the extreme rarity of SS-rank abilities, once your status is confirmed at the University Games,

The temptations I mentioned will flood in.

These temptations won't come only from within Great Xia—they'll come from abroad too, and their allure may even double.

I hope you hold fast to your heart and don't let these temptations lead you astray.

If you ultimately lose your way, defect to foreign powers, or even change your nationality,

What awaits you will be Great Xia's endless pursuit."

Ling Shuang's gaze sharpened instantly, like blades.

No nation tolerates traitors—especially Great Xia.

You pour vast resources into nurturing a national genius, only for them to turn and join another country—how can you play that game?

Decades ago, Great Xia suffered such a scandal.

A top S-rank from Jingda University was lavishly funded by the state.

He was nearly at Seventh-Rank Master level—then he switched to American citizenship.

The state leadership nearly had a stroke from rage.

That's why Great Xia is so hypersensitive about such matters.

Though Ling Shuang knew Xu Jingming would never do such a thing,

She still felt compelled to warn him, just in case.

"I understand," Xu Jingming said, his heart tightening as he nodded.

Joking—

With the Deep Blue System, he had no need to buy cultivation resources with money.

As for power and fame—once he advanced in rank, wouldn't those come naturally?

Why rely on others to give them? That would be degrading.

"Money, power, fame—I'm not worried about those. The only thing I'm truly concerned about is beauty."

Ling Shuang spoke with implication:

"Foreign powers will deploy women specially trained to obtain your genetic material by any means necessary.

These women are top-tier in physique and appearance—very few men can resist such temptation. You must be especially cautious."

In Ling Shuang's view, Xu Jingming was almost a monk—

Daily, he trained, hunted monsters, and carried out missions.

Yet he was only nineteen, in the prime of his vigorous youth.

For such a spirited young man, beauty could easily become his weakness.

"If you truly have needs, and even those two girls you're often with can't satisfy them,

Tell me—I'll do my best to help."

She glanced at Xu Jingming's tall, muscular frame and added:

Better the water flow to one's own field than to outsiders—

It's better for a compatriot to obtain his genetic material than a foreigner.

After all, the state already had protocols for this, having specially trained a group of women.

Or rather, the state would gladly see more descendants from SS-rank awakeners like Xu Jingming.

"Cough."

Xu Jingming nearly choked, not expecting such words to come from the cold and aloof Vice Principal Ling Shuang.

And what do you mean, "I'll try my best to help you resolve it"?

I can't shake the feeling that this sentence is highly ambiguous...