Chapter 360

The Great Xia's ninth-rank Wu Sheng, spanning thousands of kilometers, destroyed the Tianyu Daochang branch and killed an eighth-rank Grand Master.

Such an explosive event could never be hidden.

Thus, merely hours later, numerous articles related to this appeared on Sakura Nation's internet.

'Breaking News! Great Xia's Ninth-Rank Stronger, Lord Xue Jian, Launched a Nighttime Raid on Sakura Nation!'

'Ninth-Rank Wu Sheng Mobilized—Is This a Omen of War?'

'Tianyu Daochang Suffered Heavy Casualties; Over a Thousand Meters Around the Branch Left With No Survivors; Strong Demand That Great Xia Punish Lord Xue Jian!'

Lord Xue Jian left Sakura Nation around 10 p. m.

By the time these articles appeared online, it was already 1 or 2 a. m.

Yet in this world, night owls are the most abundant, especially under such a shocking news scenario.

Thus, beneath nearly every article, the internet overflowed with furious denunciations from Sakura Nation's citizens.

'Lord Xue Jian committed such heinous crimes on our Sakura soil, yet he escaped—what the hell are our Martial Saints even doing?!'

'Blood must be repaid with blood; we must make Great Xia pay!'

'Aren't we allies with America? Let's join forces and pressure Great Xia into handing over Lord Xue Jian!'

'......'

The comments beneath these articles increased at a terrifying pace.

And these suddenly viral articles quickly reached Great Xia's side.

In any country, an adept slaughtering civilians is an extremely heinous act.

Thus, many began to follow the trend and demand answers.

But soon, Great Xia's official agencies published the full context and aftermath of the incident online.

When it became known that Sakura Nation had first targeted Great Xia's SS-Rank prodigy, and Lord Xue Jian had merely retaliated in kind.

The entire public opinion in Great Xia instantly reversed by 180 degrees.

'Good riddance! Who told you to attack our prodigy?'

'Hah, I was on your side just earlier—turns out you're this disgusting!'

'Our Great Xia prodigy—how dare a tiny nation like yours lay a hand on him?'

'The beast threat hasn't even been eliminated, and you're already scheming internal strife? Pfft!'

'......'

Great Xia has a strong martial culture, and its people hold prodigies and strong ones in near-worshipful reverence.

Especially since Xu Jingming had shone brilliantly in the recent National University League.

The vast majority of Great Xia's people looked forward to seeing how far this genius would rise.

Now someone had dared to target him—this was unquestionably touching the Great Xia people's forbidden scale.

Meanwhile, Great Xia's official account also released a formal statement on the matter:

'Every one of our Great Xia prodigies is invaluable.

We can tolerate their death on the frontline against beasts.

But we will not tolerate foreign adepts attacking them.

This was merely a minor warning; if it happens again, Great Xia will strike with Lei Ting!'

This promise applies not only to Sakura Nation, but to all other nations as well.'

After this statement was released, all of Great Xia erupted!

People excitedly discussed it among themselves.

Other nations following the incident marveled at Great Xia's brutality.

'This is Great Xia—one of the Blue Star's Six Titans! So ruthless!'

'Indeed, Sakura Nation has no idea what it's doing, provoking a great power's dignity.'

'It's just because America egged them on.'

'True. By the way, won't Sakura Nation and Great Xia go to war?'

'War? You're dreaming! How many people does Sakura Nation have? How many does Great Xia have? How many ninth-rank Martial Saints does each side have? Do they dare?'

'Don't they have America?'

'Hah, you think America will risk a war with Great Xia over a tiny Tianyu Daochang? What are you thinking?'

'......'

While most Blue Star nations concluded war was unlikely, many also lamented Sakura Nation's plight.

This is the tragedy of a small nation—too weak to offend either side, forced to survive in the cracks between great powers...

The next day, after 10 a. m.

When Xu Jingming awoke from sleep,

and learned a major event had occurred while he slept, he couldn't help but feel a quiet awe.

This is the advantage of being backed by a great power—when trouble strikes, someone else avenges you!

'Now, even if other nations want to target me, they'll have to think twice about whether they can afford to provoke Great Xia.'

Xu Jingming thought silently.

Though called the Blue Star's Six Titans, in truth only two powers are truly dominant.

That is America and Great Xia.

The only one with motive to oppose him and prevent Great Xia from growing stronger is America.

The high command acted so swiftly primarily to deter America.

Before the beast crisis is resolved, America likely won't risk another attack on him.

Of course, for Xu Jingming himself, the usual protective measures still had to be thoroughly prepared.

"I have sixth-rank and eighth-rank protective talismans on hand. As long as it's not a ninth-rank Wu Sheng making a move, there shouldn't be any problem.

And in Great Xia, ninth-rank Martial Saints from other countries simply cannot barge in."

Unlike Sakura Country with its weak defenses, the entire frontier of Great Xia is under constant surveillance by ninth-rank peak Martial Saints of the spiritual system.

The moment you dare to break in, several Martial Saints will immediately rush out to intercept you.

This is intelligence Great Xia publicly released a long time ago.

"It's just a shame I'm heading to the Prodigy Training Camp at Lei Ting Martial Hall.

Otherwise, with Vice Principal Hearing Ling Shuang's S-rank spatial-system ability, that would truly be maximum safety."

Shaking his head, Xu Jingming rose and walked into the bathroom.

After spending more than half an hour washing away the grime, he emerged refreshed and wearing a loose training outfit.

He then walked into the bedroom, turned on the computer, logged into the Modu University's official school website, and submitted his application for early graduation.

"Dear S-rank student Xu Jingming, your early graduation application has been submitted. Results will be issued within three working days at the earliest."

"Three days, huh... perfect. I'll use this time to clear out all the credits in my account."

Xu Jingming leaned back in his chair. On the surface he looked to be zoning out, but in his mind a pale-blue virtual panel had appeared.

【Name】: Xu Jingming

【Level】: Fourth-rank Upper

【Ability】: Doushen Shenlei (SS)

【Physique】: 8035 Qi-Blood (+)

【Spirit】: 6250 Hz (+)

【Skills】: Spear Art (Master), Fist Art (Master), Thunder-Piercing Demon-Slaying Spear (S-rank, Beginner+), Lei Shen Zhi (S-rank, Beginner+)...

【Body Tempering】: Lei Ting Indestructible Body (S-rank, Sixth Layer)

【Ability Points】:

"This trip to the civilization ruins was indeed quite a haul.

Not only did I jump two levels, even Lei Ting Indestructible Body has been raised to the sixth layer.

Besides, there are all these spoils of war......"

Xu Jingming looked at the computer desk in front of him. Beside the computer tower lay dozens of spatial rings!

All of these were obtained from killing ability users of the Tianyu Dojo while in the ruins space.

Even the spoils harvested by Xiao Nan, Qin Zheng, and the others when they killed ability users.

On the warship, they had all been handed over to him together.

Of course, Xu Jingming didn't keep all these spoils; he distributed a portion to Teacher Xiao Nan and the others.

But even so, the spatial rings in his hands still numbered a full 48!

"Just the value of these spatial rings alone is at least over two billion, let alone the other spoils stored inside them.

This time, it can truly be called striking it rich in one go!"

Thinking of this, even Xu Jingming, who was usually calm by nature, couldn't help but break into a smile.