Chapter 616: Return! The Butterfly Sect!

"Seventh-tier mid-level strength? In other words, even Lord Norton couldn't be sure of fully receiving that strike, so he subconsciously raised his strength?!"

"Terrifying, truly terrifying. This must be an SS-grade spear-type combat art, right?"

"This is Lei Di, this is the number one of the Genius Tournament! At the same sixth-tier mid-level, he's far stronger than us!"

"......"

When Norton voluntarily conceded, the entire arena of contestants erupted in an uproar.

No one had expected the battle to end so quickly—Xu Jingming had only used a single strike!

"This..." On Bai Xi's pretty face, the same shock was written.

But unlike the others, who were astonished at the speed of Xu Jingming's victory, what surprised her was the speed at which Xu Jingming had learned the combat art!

That spear-type combat art just now was absolutely SS-grade!

More importantly, Xu Jingming had never once used it in the Genius Tournament before!

In other words, Xu Jingming had learned an SS-grade combat art in just over a month!

"What kind of monster is this?"

Bai Xi couldn't help muttering softly.

Even with her mother—a Supreme Being—personally teaching her, the time she needed to learn an SS-grade combat art was at least three months to start!

"I knew it—Xu Jingming is simply not something a normal human can compare to!" Su Yu had completely given up.

In just over a month, he felt the gap between himself and Xu Jingming had widened once more.

"Thank you, Lord Norton, for going easy on me." Retracting the Molten Fiend Obsidian Spear, Xu Jingming said with a smile.

By the normal flow, he and Norton should have fought for several minutes before a victor emerged.

But he couldn't be bothered to keep fighting, so right from the start he unleashed his strongest spear-type combat art.

Caught off guard, Norton had no time to use a high-tier combat art to resist and could only rely on higher strength to take the hit head-on.

"I didn't go easy on you."

Norton shook his head, flipped his right hand, and a delicate wooden casket was handed over:

"You defeated me—this is the SSS-grade resource awarded to you."

An SSS-grade resource!

Every contestant present cast envious glances his way.

An SSS-grade resource and an SS-grade resource were on entirely different levels!

Even the worst SSS-grade resource was far better than an SS+-grade resource!

The vast majority of those present had never used an SSS-grade resource.

"This is a Black Phoenix Fruit. Consuming it can greatly enhance one's physique and spirit.

However, if you consume it now, you won't be able to fully absorb the fruit's energy.

I suggest waiting until you've reached seventh-tier before eating it."

His face was full of reluctance.

In fact, the highest challenge reward was only an SS+-grade resource.

This SSS-grade resource was his own promise.

In other words, this resource came out of his own pocket.

"Got careless."

Norton muttered inwardly, feeling his heart bleed.

He had never imagined that a contestant in this edition would actually be able to defeat him.

Fortunately, the SS+-grade resource originally meant for Xu Jingming he could keep for himself.

Otherwise, he really would have lost badly.

"Alright." Xu Jingming smiled and tucked the small wooden box away.

The rarer the treasure of heaven and earth, the higher the demands on its user.

Treasures like this one that could only fully take effect at seventh-tier were still manageable.

Some treasures of heaven and earth were like poison to low-tier ability users—one bite and they'd die.

In the early days of the Yuan Energy Revival, cases of people dying from eating treasures of heaven and earth were commonplace......

With Xu Jingming's challenge concluded, this session of the Qingfeng Secret Realm officially came to an end.

Under Norton's lead, everyone left the Qingfeng Secret Realm.

Just as when they arrived, the top 32 had a dedicated aircraft that could take them directly to their destination.

As for the remaining contestants, they had to take a warplane back on their own.

What surprised Xu Jingming somewhat was that when they came from Dayangzhou, the warplane had only twelve people aboard including himself.

By the time of the return trip, there were seventeen!

Over half the number of the Genius Tournament's top 32—Aileen was one of the newly added.

And after boarding the warplane, Bai Xi deliberately sat next to Xu Jingming and kept staring at him.

"What? Is there a flower on my face? You've been staring at me." Xu Jingming said lightly.

"Nothing."

Bai Xi finally withdrew her gaze and snorted lightly:

"Don't forget, once we're back in Dayangzhou, you're treating me to a meal."

She actually wanted to see how Xu Jingming differed from ordinary ability users, how his speed of cultivating combat arts could be so fast.

But she had stared for quite a while and still couldn't see anything special about Xu Jingming.

"Don't worry, I won't forget." Xu Jingming closed his eyes and leaned back comfortably in his seat.

Although he had slept for ten hours, he still hadn't fully recovered, so he might as well sleep a little longer.

Just as Xu Jingming set out from Maidan Nation and flew back toward Dayangzhou.

Dayangzhou, the super-city Moben, in the office of the chief steward of Lei Ting Wu Guan.

Hearing Ling Shuang was listening to the report of a woman before her.

"Chief Steward, the materials on the Midie Sect have all been gathered, but their cult leader has never shown himself.

It may require you to personally go and drag him out."

The woman in an OL uniform reported respectfully.

Ever since Xu Jingming replaced Wang Chun's position and became the head coach of the elite training camp.

Quite a few people inside the martial hall who had still been sitting on the fence tried to make contact with Hearing Ling Shuang.

And this woman, named Liang Ya, a sixth-rank mid-tier ability user, a minor steward of Lei Ting Wu Guan.

Now considered Hearing Ling Shuang's diehard supporter, she had always been handling affairs for Hearing Ling Shuang.

"Where might the Midie Sect's cult leader appear?" Hearing Ling Shuang's red lips moved slightly as she asked softly.

The Midie Sect was one of the many cult forces in Dayangzhou.

They took lust and desire as their faith; their religious creed was to seize pleasure in the moment, with carnal desire above all else.

If it were limited to this alone, it might not even qualify as a cult.

But Midie Sect Sect followers would often employ some spiritual-force manipulation methods to bewitch women for their use.

This violated Moben's city management regulations.

Thus, Moben's upper echelons handed the task of dealing with the Midie Sect to Lei Ting Wu Guan.

And Hall Master Liu Shan tossed it back to Hearing Ling Shuang, letting her set about handling it.

The other followers of the Midie Sect were nothing to worry about; it was only the cult leader who was extremely mysterious.

Apart from knowing he was an eighth-rank grandmaster-level ability user, no other information was known at all.

"According to the intel we've gathered, the Midie Sect's cult leader may appear at the gathering the day after tomorrow evening.

I've already obtained a ticket to this gathering, but the gathering requires a couple or husband and wife to attend.

And the screening procedures are extremely strict."

Liang Ya replied, "If you, Chief Steward, need to go, I can help you find a male companion."

"A gathering for pairs?" Hearing Ling Shuang's delicate brows knit slightly.

The Midie Sect's cult leader wasn't necessarily going to appear at the gathering.

If she rashly used her own spatial power, it would easily tip them off.

Therefore, she had to first enter the gathering, confirm the cult leader would appear, and only then make her move.

But the mere requirement of a male companion alone was already a bit troublesome.

She didn't like having other men get too close to her.

"Today is January 13th; counting the time, Jingming's side should already be finished.

Then I can wait until Jingming comes back and have him accompany me on a trip."

Hearing Ling Shuang murmured silently in her heart.