Chapter 841: LEAVING THE REALM! LEI JIAN IS STUNNED!

The remaining two SSS-grade rare herbs, Xu Jingming gave to Luo Lan and Zhou Yu respectively.

Of course, they must hand them over to Xu Jingming after leaving the realm.

In exchange, they must give Xu Jingming one SSS-grade rare herb or equivalent cultivation resources.

Xu Jingming did not specify when they must deliver them—this was also a way to build ties.

After all, both had considerable strength, especially Luo Lan; cultivating a good relationship might prove useful later.

After distributing the rare herbs, Xu Jingming roughly inventoried the spoils.

There were 5, 13. tons of rare herbs below B-grade, and another 78. tons above B-grade.

In addition, there were the Flower God Ruins artifacts taken from Ryan and the space-beast bones taken from Tianjian.

"So many rare herbs, plus all these additional gains—this trip was a massive windfall."

Xu Jingming smiled.

Even if the final contribution points amounted to only one-tenth of the true value of these rare herbs,

it would still be enough to exchange for many valuable items in the Great Xia resource vault!

"I hope the items in Great Xia's resource vault won't disappoint me."

With faint anticipation in his eyes, Xu Jingming sat cross-legged on the ground, quietly cultivating as he waited for the realm's exit portal to open.

It wasn't until 11 a. . on August 5th the next day that a vortex-like spatial portal appeared above the Mige Grassland.

"Jingming, the teleportation portal has opened!"

Ling Shuang's eyes lit up with delight.

"Alright, let's go."

Xu Jingming led Ling Shuang into the portal first; the remaining international experts followed suit.

Just seconds later, the vast Mige Grassland stood empty.

Hum—

With a soft hum, Xu Jingming stepped through the portal and found himself back inside the Ye Er Base.

Not far ahead, besides the nine-grade experts from various nations who had been waiting, there were also many reporters.

Although the Global Martial Arts Academy Exchange Competition was less famous than the Global Talent Exchange Competition, it still drew considerable international attention.

This year's exchange competition was especially tied to the opening of the Ye Er Realm,

which greatly increased its buzz, leaving many reporters eagerly awaiting results.

Of course, these reporters had all been invited by their respective nations—otherwise they couldn't have entered.

Click—

Click—

As the numerous experts stepped out of the portal, cameras flashed nonstop.

The strobes captured this moment, preparing images for subsequent reports.

Of course, what they most wanted to know was the final outcome of this year's exchange competition.

"Last time, the competition was conventional, and Great Xia only took third place.

This time, tied to the Ye Er Realm and decided by rare herb quantity, Great Xia should definitely win."

"Not necessarily—collecting rare herbs also depends on luck. If luck runs out, Great Xia might not win."

"True enough. We'll just have to wait for the rare herb tally."

"......"

Numerous voices rose in discussion, debating which nation or martial arts academy would claim first place.

"Welcome back, esteemed experts."

The Maple Nation's psychic team, who had been guarding nearby, bowed respectfully in greeting.

Meanwhile, the experts from each nation returned to their respective national teams.

"What's going on? Why did only twenty people from Great Xia return?"

Seeing Xu Jingming and the others, Lei Jian frowned immediately and turned to Luo Lan.

Luo Lan, an upper-eight-grade expert with an S-grade psychic ability, was in fact the team leader.

With one-third of the team dead, he naturally had to question Luo Lan.

"Let Senior Xu explain to you, Lord Lei Jian," Luo Lan replied respectfully, lowering his posture.

"Senior Xu?"

Before Lei Jian could process who Luo Lan meant, Xu Jingming stepped forward and bowed respectfully:

"Lord Lei Jian, this is how it happened..."

Xu Jingming briefly recounted the events.

Upon hearing that members of the Destiny Cult had infiltrated the realm—and that a nine-grade martial saint was among them—Lei Jian's expression darkened.

Then, upon hearing that Xu Jingming had slain that nine-grade martial saint, he froze in shock and interrupted:

"Wait—you're saying you killed the Destiny Cult's nine-grade martial saint?"

"Correct. He forcibly ascended to nine-grade using Divine Blood Technique, lacking the natural recovery ability of a true nine-grade.

I killed him once—he cannot recover again."

Xu Jingming nodded.

His tone made Lei Jian feel Xu Jingming had slain not a nine-grade, but some low-grade psychic.

Luo Lan added: "Precisely because Senior Xu eliminated the Destiny Cult's nine-grade, we survived.

Otherwise, most of the eight-grades in the realm would have died, and the rest would have joined the Destiny Cult."

At these words, even the usually cold and composed Lei Jian was stunned.

An upper-seven-grade killing a nine-grade martial saint?

Even if one had an SS-grade ability and the other only an A-grade, this was utterly unbelievable.

"For this year's Martial Arts Academy Exchange Competition, rankings are determined by rare herb quantity. Please submit your collected herbs promptly."

At that moment, a voice rang out from ahead.

It was the Maple Nation's nine-grade expert, serving as host and official witness to both the exchange competition and the Ye Er Realm's opening.

"By the way, which of your two academies—Thunder or Bear—collected more rare herbs?"

Lei Jian asked instinctively.

"Unless something unexpected happens, it's my Thunder Academy."

Xu Jingming smiled. "I didn't finish earlier—after killing the Destiny Cult's nine-grade, I took all the other nations' space rings.

I just counted them—there are over five thousand tons of rare herbs."

"What? Five thousand tons?"

Lei Jian's eyes widened; it took him a moment to process the news, his stern face now flushed with excitement:

"Good! Good! Good! I never expected that after entering the realm, Xu Jingming, you'd deliver me such a shock!

Then this year's exchange competition, your Thunder Academy will represent Great Xia in the tally!

All of Great Xia's rare herbs will be temporarily consolidated under your custody."

"No need."

Xu Jingming smiled. "Even combined, theirs barely amount to a fraction of what I have—I'll handle the tally directly."

"Fair enough."

Lei Jian nodded, growing more impressed with Xu Jingming by the moment.

With all the international media present, the moment of the tally would send Great Xia into a frenzy.

He could already picture the headlines—overrun by the staggering quantity of rare herbs.