Chapter 355: The Final Arrangement! The Space Gate Opens!

In the forest,

Everyone, including Xia Lan, stared in stunned silence at the tall young man's figure.

No one had expected that the one who killed this Sakura Nation's fifth-rank peak adept was truly Xu Jingming.

"Jingming, did our teachers win?"

Before he could ponder why Xu Jingming's power had become so strong, his senior brother Liu Ming asked first.

"After receiving the inheritance, the AI of the civilization relic gave me two seventh-rank Flowing Gold Guardians."

"The Tianyu Daochang people fled the moment they saw these two machines," Xu Jingming replied with a smile.

"Seventh-rank machines?"

Everyone turned to look at the two machines nearby and only then noticed the faint but overwhelming pressure emanating from them.

"So that's why. If we'd known, we shouldn't have run," Liu Ming sighed in relief.

"At least we left early enough."

Xu Jingming checked the time on his smart bracer. "Seven hours remain until the space gate opens. Go ahead and wait there."

"Teacher Xiao and Teacher Qin and the others should be heading there too."

"Aren't you coming with us?" Liu Ming asked in surprise.

"I have other matters to attend to. You go ahead," Xu Jingming shook his head.

The Tianyu Daochang people have been mostly eliminated; it's time to let Sakura Rin out.

But before I release her, I need to give her some private instructions.

"Alright, we'll wait for you at the exit," they said. With two Flowing Gold Guardians present, Xu Jingming's safety was no concern.

Thus, Liu Ming and the others nodded and sprinted toward the exit.

Though this time, they didn't need to push themselves so hard...

After watching them leave, Xu Jingming shut off his left smart bracer and turned to the two massive machines beside him:

"Eva, you go with them too."

"Aren't we continuing the battle royale?" Eva's deep, mechanical voice rose, tinged with slight disappointment.

"The battle royale is over."

Xu Jingming shook his head. "But I have another task for you.

After the space gate opens, I'll lead the group out first.

As for the rest, you must watch them and prevent them from leaving.

Only after we've been gone for twenty-three hours may you release them.

Also, if you encounter any Sakura Nation adepts from now on, pretend you didn't see them—don't kill them."

The space gate of Civilization Site #9 will remain open for twenty-four hours.

This arrangement ensures that even if other adepts leave and leak their identities,

he will already have boarded his warship and returned to Great Xia.

Even if the Sakura Nation's eighth-rank Grand Master realizes it, he won't be able to pursue.

"Eva understands!"

Hearing she had another task, Eva's disappointment vanished instantly; she eagerly activated the two Flowing Gold Guardians, sending them speeding away.

She had guarded Civilization Site #9 for thousands of years, always bound by fixed protocols.

Thus, she had only deployed basic AIs to maintain base operations without interfering in adepts' activities.

But now, the Sequence Heir had appeared.

According to her programmed directives, she must prioritize the Sequence Heir's safety.

That's why she could act so "out of bounds" by killing the trial adepts.

For such freedom of action, she naturally cherished it deeply...

"Sakura Rin, come out."

After the two Flowing Gold Guardians departed, Xu Jingming summoned Sakura Rin from the Spirit Slave Space.

"Master."

As Sakura Rin stepped out of the Spirit Slave Space, she bowed slightly, lowering her head, and spoke with deep reverence to Xu Jingming.

"I've fulfilled your request to spare eight lives."

Xu Jingming stepped before Sakura Rin, extended his right hand, and gripped her pale chin.

He tilted her head upward, forcing her to meet his gaze:

"I'm about to leave the relic space. I'm releasing you now.

Remember the task I gave you—seize control of Tianyu Daochang, and eventually, all of Sakura Nation."

As he spoke, Xu Jingming's mind surged.

His spiritual force roared like a giant hand, clenching the Reverse Contract Rune, then crushing it violently!

"Ah!"

Cracks appeared on the Rune; Sakura Rin cried out in pain.

Her already weak aura sank further into frailty.

Yet she still forced herself to stand, trembling slightly, replying respectfully: "Yes, Master."

"Good. Your willpower is decent."

Satisfied with the contract's effect, Xu Jingming nodded slightly; behind him, the Thunder Dragon Wings slowly unfurled:

"Then I'm leaving, Sakura Nation's S-Class.

I hope when we meet again, you won't disappoint me—otherwise, you know the consequences..."

Xu Jingming withdrew his gaze, flared his wings, and shot skyward, vanishing swiftly into the horizon.

"Bowing farewell to Master!" Sakura Rin bent her slender waist deeply.

She held the rigid posture for one or two minutes before gradually relaxing, slowly straightening her body:

"Finally gone. This guy really has a cruel personality..."

Sakura Rin could feel that even with healing adepts treating her,

it would take over ten days to recover from her final injuries.

"Great Xia's SS-Class: Xu Jingming."

Recalling everything she'd endured, Sakura Rin's pale, delicate oval face wore a complex expression.

Who could have imagined that a single journey through a civilization relic

would force her to use the utterly humiliating "Reverse Contract"—something she'd never dreamed of using?

And worse, she'd been forced to call him "Master" like a slave...

Thinking of it, her cheeks flushed slightly, and strange emotions stirred in her heart.

"But at least I'm still alive.

And thankfully, he didn't take my space ring—if he had, I'd have no combat power left.

Next, I'll find a place to heal, then seek out the others."

Taking a deep breath, Sakura Rin's slender figure, wrapped in her tight battle suit, vanished swiftly into the forest.

Tianyu Daochang had sent 101 people in; including her, only nine survived.

Logically, she should feel sorrow for so many losses—but she felt none.

Since her parents' deaths, her goal had always been singular:

Rise to the upper echelons of Tianyu Daochang and kill the Chief Supervisor!

For this, she was willing to sacrifice her life, her freedom.

As for the lives of these others, she cared even less.

Xu Jingming soon flew to the relic space's exit.

Shortly after, Teacher Xiao Nan, along with the instructors from Thunder Martial Arts and Furious Bear Martial Arts, arrived.

"Ladies and gentlemen, due to well-known reasons, after the space gate opens,

you must remain here for another twenty hours before leaving. No objections, I assume?"

At the original entrance to the relic space, Xu Jingming stood tall.

His gaze swept over the group of foreign adepts surrounding him, his voice ringing out:

The adepts glanced at Qin Zheng and the others behind Xu Jingming,

then at the two Flowing Gold Guardians beside him, radiating overwhelming pressure.

They nodded frantically, replying in their native tongues:

"No problem."

"Understood."

"..."

They weren't fools. With two seventh-rank master-level machines present, opposing now would be suicide.

"Good," Xu Jingming nodded in satisfaction, then sat cross-legged on the ground, waiting quietly.

Soon, hours passed—then a sudden hum.

A massive space gate abruptly coalesced in midair.